More Kuzhambu with Cucumber

I wonder how our taste buds change as we get older. I still remember, my mom literally running behind me with a bowl of vegetables. Since, dad was a picky eater, mom would cook something every day that dad liked and that is how I survived. Being dad's little princess, I loved whatever he liked. Vegetables other than beans, potato and cauliflower were seen as inedible vegetables by dad and me. But slowly, I have learned to enjoy foods that I never liked before. And surprisingly, when dad was here, he ate everything whatever I cooked, even the vegetables that he never used to like before. I called home a couple of days back and mom said she is making cabbage paratha looking at the recipe I had posted. And today I found out that dad loved it and he asked mom to make it again for breakfast today  J

Growing up, I hated the taste of More Kuzhambu. But now, it tastes like heaven. We both loved the taste. I did not have any white pumpkins at home. So I added cucumber to the curry and it turned out great.

Ingredients: Cucumber - 2 cups (Peeled and cubed) Curd - 1 1/2 cups Water - 1 to 1 1/2 cups Salt - to taste Asafotida/Hing - 1/2 teaspoon Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon Coriander seeds - 1 1 /2 teaspoon Channa dhal - 1 1 /2 teaspoon Red Chillies - 3 Coconut - 1 tablespoon Fenugreek - 1/2 teaspoon Thoor Dhal - 1 tablespoon Oil - 1 tablespoon Mustard - 1 teaspoon Curry leaves - few  Method: Soak toor dhal in water at least for an hour. To the boiling water, add peeled and cubed cucumber along with little salt and turmeric. Let it cook until the cucumbers turn a little soft. It should still be firm enough and not mushy. Dry roast channa dhal, coriander seeds, red chillies, coconut, fenugreek until nice aroma comes out. Make sure you do not burn any of the ingredients. Transfer the above content along with the soaked thoor dhal into a mixie/blender and make it into a fine paste. Keep it aside. Churn the curd with required amount of milk and dilute it. Add turmeric,salt and the grounded paste to it. Pour the mixture into a kadai and let it boil until the raw smell goes away. Add more water if the curry gets thicker during boiling. I let the curry boil for at least 20 minutes in low medium flame until the raw smell of the ingredients went off. In another pan, add oil and when it is hot, add mustard and curry leaves. Add the tempering to the curry. Serve it over piping hot white rice along with any crispy fries.