Tambli
Veg
Cold raw coconut digestive — fresh coconut ground with a variable main ingredient (raw garlic, ginger, pepper, horse gram, or curry leaves), thinned with beaten curd into a thin, cooling pour. Served at room temperature or chilled at the end of a Coorgi or Karnataka meal as a digestive. Each variety of tambli has a distinct character — garlic tambli is warming, pepper tambli is sharp, and horse gram tambli is earthy. Requires no cooking beyond the tempering.
Cuisines
Mangalorean
Udupi
Coorgi
Mysore
North Karnataka
Best for
Lunch
Dinner
Recipe
Prep: 10 min
Cook: 10 min
Total: 20 min
2-3 servings
Ingredients
| 1 cup | fresh coconut, grated |
| 1 tablespoon | cumin seeds |
| 1 teaspoon | black peppercorns |
| 1 teaspoon | ghee |
| 1 cup | buttermilk |
| 1 teaspoon | salt |
| 1 | green chili |
| 1 | small piece of ginger |
| 1 teaspoon | mustard seeds |
| 5-6 | curry leaves |
Instructions
- 1 In a small pan, heat ghee over medium heat and add cumin seeds and black peppercorns. Roast until fragrant.
- 2 In a blender, combine the roasted spices, grated coconut, green chili, and ginger. Grind to a smooth paste using a little water.
- 3 Transfer the paste to a bowl and mix in the buttermilk and salt. Stir well to combine.
- 4 In the same pan, heat a little more ghee and add mustard seeds. Once they splutter, add curry leaves.
- 5 Pour the tempering over the coconut-buttermilk mixture and mix well.
- 6 Serve the Tambli chilled or at room temperature with steamed rice.
Tips
For a variation, you can add a small piece of jaggery to balance the flavors.