Mor Kuzhambu

Tamil Brahmin yogurt curry — thick, beaten sour curd thinned with water and cooked with a freshly ground paste of coconut, cumin, raw rice, green chilli, and curry leaves to form a thin, lightly spiced, pale-yellow curry that is the vegetarian alternative to sambar on the Tamil Brahmin plate. The tempering of mustard seeds, dried red chilli, and asafoetida is added to the hot mor kuzhambu at the final moment; the whole preparation must not boil or the curd will split. Vegetables such as raw banana, yam, ash gourd, or taro are cooked separately and added. Distinctly more subtle and cooling than sambar; mor kuzhambu is considered the lighter, more satvik curry suited to the afternoon meal.