Vatha Kulambu | Vatha Kuzhambu | Manathakkali Vathal Kulambu

Vatha Kulambu is one of the simplest recipes that I often make at home, from the cuisine of Tamil Nadu. Also known as the Vatha Kuzhambu, this dish uses a unique ingredient called ‘manathakkali,’ about which I’ve mentioned more in this post. Do give it a read. Besides this, this tongue-tickling main course dish is quite simple to make and gets done too in about half an hourish. The recipe is vegan and quite nutritious as well because of the typical ingredient used in it, which has many health benefits.

About Vatha Kulambu

‘Vathal’ is basically a Tamil word for sun-dried vegetables or berries. These veggies or berries are soaked in buttermilk for some hours or overnight, and later kept in the sun to be dried. In this recipe of Vatha Kuzhambu, I have used a typical Tamil ingredient, that is ‘manathakkali.’

In English, manathakkali is known as black nightshade berries. These are also called as ‘makoy’ in Hindi language and is a special type of herb. Just like other vathals, the unripe green berries of the black nightshade are also soaked in buttermilk and then sun dried.

These dried berries or manathakkali can then be fried with very little oil and served with Curd Rice or rasam-rice. A simple Vatha Kulambu like the one shared in this post, can also be made with these sun-dried berries of the black nightshade herb.

This Manathakkali Vathal Kulambu is a tangy curry in which tamarind is used to bring in the desired sourness. In addition to these primary ingredients, whole spices, dried red chilies, curry leaves, sambar powder are other ingredients that go in the preparation of this kuzhambu from Tamil Nadu cuisine.

This kulambu is quite wholesome and great for your health. It also improves appetite. This is because the black nightshade has many benefits – ranging from aiding digestion, improving the immune system, reducing body heat and stimulating kidney functions to getting rid of stomach infections, curing muscle and back pain, rheumatism and much more.

More on this recipe

The flavor profile of the Vatha Kuzhambu is quite complex. You get to have spicy, sour, bitter, salty and astringent tastes, all together in this curry. So, it is best served with some steamed rice where the flavors do get mellowed a bit.

Savoring Vatha Kulambu is an acquired taste and you may or may not like it in the first go. While having this black nightshade tamarind curry with steamed rice, you do get hints of saltiness, sourness and slight bitterness from biting onto the softened berries.

Sometimes, if I don’t have the manathakkali berries, then I also use the same recipe to make a similar curry with Turkey berries or ‘sundakkai.’ At times I also add pearl onions (sambar onions) and garlic to this preparation. However, in this post, I am sharing a no onion, no garlic Tam-Brahm version of the recipe.

As I mentioned earlier, Vatha Kuzhambu pairs best with steamed rice. Accompany a side vegetable dish/stir fry like Vazhakkai Poriyal, Beans Poriyal, potato fry or suran fry with it. With this kulambu, I would suggest to serve a side veggie dish with faint sweet notes, not spicy or bitter.

How to make Vatha Kulambu

Soaking tamarind

1. In a bowl, take 1 lemon sized tamarind ball or 1 tablespoon tightly packed tamarind. Preferably use aged and dark tamarind.

2. Add 1 cup hot water. Cover and soak tamarind for 20 to 30 minutes.

3. Squeeze the tamarind and extract the tamarind pulp in the water. Keep aside.

Making Vatha Kulambu

4. Heat 3 tablespoons sesame oil (gingelly oil) in a pan. Keep flame to a low and add ½ teaspoon mustard seeds.

5. Let the mustard seeds crackle.

6. Keep heat to a low and then add ½ teaspoon fenugreek seeds, 1 to 2 dried red chilies, halved and seeds removed, 8 to 10 curry leaves and 1 pinch asafoetida (hing).

7. Fry and stir till the red chilies change color.

8. Keeping the heat to low, now add 3 tablespoons Manathakkali vathal (sun dried black nightshade).

9. Stirring continuously, fry for some seconds till the color of vathal changes. Make sure to not burn them.

10. Now, switch off the heat and add 1.5 to 2 tablespoons sambar powder.

11. Fry for 1 minute on heat switched off. You can even fry at low heat. Make sure that the sambar powder does not get burnt.

12. Add the tamarind pulp.

13. Pour 2 cups water.

14. Give a stir.

15. Add salt as per taste.

16. Mix well and let this Vatha Kuzhambu boil on medium-low heat for about 25 to 30 minutes.

17. Continue to simmer till the gravy thickens slightly. You will see some oil specks on the top.

18. Then, add 1 teaspoon rice flour. Adding rice flour is optional and can be skipped.

19. Add ½ teaspoon jaggery. Adding jaggery is also optional.

20. Mix well and continue to simmer Vatha Kulambu for 4 to 5 minutes more. After you switch off the heat, you should clearly see a layer of oil once the kuzhambu has rested for 1 to 2 minutes. Check the taste and add more salt, if required.

21. Serve Vatha Kulambu with steamed rice. Accompany a side vegetable dish like a carrot or vendakkai poriyal or a stir fry like vazhakkai fry or baby potato fry.

Expert Tips

1. While using tamarind for this recipe, use aged and dark tamarind preferably. This gives a lovely deep sourness to the kuzhambu.
2. Be generous with oil. There should be a thin layer of oil on top of the kulambu. This helps in keeping the dish good for about a week in the refrigerator and also gives a good taste.
3. For the best authentic taste, use sesame oil (gingelly oil) which is cold pressed oil made from raw sesame seeds.
4. After adding sambar powder, it should be fried in oil so that it releases its flavors.
5. For slight thickening of the gravy, you can add some rice flour. A bit of jaggery can also be added to balance the sourness and bitterness. However, both these are optional.  

This Vatha Kulambu recipe from the archives was first published in May 2018. It has been updated and republished in April 2024.