Among the greens that I use for cooking, fresh Coriander leaves are my favorite. It has an amazing aroma that totally takes the dish to an entirely new level. This post has been lying in my drafts for the past 2 months ever since I returned from DH’s Hometown to celebrate Diwali. I came armed with fresh coriander leaves harvested right from the fields. As this thokku is loved by the whole family I usually keep stock of it making it from 1 or 2 small bunches, but this the first time I made with a quantity of roughly 10 big bunches.
MIL had so lovingly cleaned, washed, air dried and packed it with so much care for the leaves to remain fresh as we were travelling by car. See those leaves there, it stayed fresh even after a week. This is my Grandma’s recipe which I learned from her. She used to pound this thokku by hand in the “Ural” and store it in the big wooden box. This box is so big that it can easily accommodate 2 adults in crouched position. She used to store all her home made pickles, curd, buttermilk, ghee, butter and idli batter in it. She never cared for a refrigerator.
Kothamalli Thokku / Coriander Thokku Pickle
You’ll need:
- Kothamalli / Coriander leaves – 1 bunch
- Urad dal – ½ cup
- Round red chillies – 15
- Tamarind – goose berry size
- Asafetida – ¼ tsp
- Rock Salt – to taste
- Oil – ¼ cup
Method:
Trim the roots and keep the stalk of the leaves as shown in the picture. Wash well to remove any sand particles. Spread over a cloth and let it air dry. Chop them roughly and keep aside. Soak tamarind in some hot water.
In a pan heat the oil. Add the urad dal and roast till the aroma arises. Add the red chillies, sauté till it changes color slightly, the add soaked tamarind, asafetida and sauté for another minute.
Add the chopped coriander leaves and sauté till the leaves shrink in size and devoid of any moisture. Let it cool.
Transfer this to the mixer jar and add salt. Grind it together. Do not add water. Mix with a dry spoon often and grind it coarsely as in the picture. Transfer the thokku to a clean and dry bottle. The shelf life is up to 10 to 12 days at room temperature and 1 month when stored in fridge.
This makes a good side dish for idlis, dosas and rice and also you can use this as a ready made rice paste mixing it with rice like Pulikaichal when you are hard pressed for time or for those lazy days when you do not feel like cooking anything.
Notes:
- Add only the soaked tamarind alone and not the water while grinding.
- Using the pulse mode while grinding will give a better result.
- Remember to use a dry spoon when using.
- Keep a little amount for daily use in the shelf and store the remaining in the fridge while making a big batch as that is what I did.
This is off to Winter Carnival
DID YOU TRY THIS RECIPE?
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Kothamalli thokku is loved by my family also…yours look really yum.
yummy Radhika ! I love this a lot, and was craving to have it since some time 🙂 bookmarking this authentic recipe.. that wooden box reminds me of the one my paati also used to use for the same purpose 🙂 as kids we used to even play hide and seek in those huge boxes !
Perfect and an aromatic thokku
hey Radhika – just wanted to check the top right most gadget on ur blog – ‘stay connected’ : what website is this available on or did you customise it ? what are they called?
This looks really flavourful!
Oh my..I cant stop drooling here!! Send me a box of this lip smacking thokku pleeezzzz!!! My grandma makes a similar one too..I had posted it long time back..But here version is with green chillies instead of red..She makes and stores the chutney for many days..I being a tad lazy to dry the leaves thoroughly make it in smaller batches..sufficient just for a day or two..
Prathima Rao
Parts Corner
Love this thokku very much with hot steaming rice and ghee
Aromatic and flavorful thokku…would love to have with idli/dosa or even with curd rice.
Herbs & Flowers: Spring Onions
aaah- nice of you to share your granny’s recipe and I can imagine the flavours of hand pounding in the hey days !
I love this one as I am also coriander crazy this one is bookmarked for making immediately and regularly.
Radhika, What a coincidence. I also posted something with Kothamalli today. I have some more left and am planning to do the thokku with it. Thogayal will last only for a day or so. Yours looks yummy and beautiful clicks.
My mouth is watering! This sounds super delicious 🙂
Simple and delicious pickle, wonderful.
looks very tempting 🙂
love to have with hot idli’s…
Lovely and flavorful thokku looks delicious:)
Slurp,fingerlicking thokku..am craving for some..
Pickle looks wonderfully delicious and mouthwatering.
Deepa
Hamaree Rasoi
wonderful recipe,my grand mother used to make and I like to have it with idly and dosa.After I came To U.S i tried many times it didn’t come out as good as my granny’s one,your version sounds good will try it soon.
delicious looking pickle
Mouthwatering recipe, this looks so good.
This is very new to me… it looks really yummy and I love coriander.
I loveeee this a lot but never tried on my own 🙂
my mum makes this also.. So yummy Can u send some to me too
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