Ulli Theeyal recipe | Kerala Ulli theeyal

Ulli theeyal is a popular Kerala gravy | South Indian gravy for rice, made with shallots(chinna vengayam) and coconut as the main ingredients and other flavourful spices. I am a big fan of vengaya vathal kuzhambhu, so i wanted to try this for a long time. Few months back one of my friend's mom while casually talking told me the recipe of ulli theeyal and i recorded the same in my mobile. I got a good bunch of small onion during my little india trip and finally made this ulli theeyal. It was a huge hit among all in the family. Try this at home and share your feedback with me.

Ulli theeyal recipe

  Preparation Time : 20 mins | Cooking Time : 25 Mins |Serves: 3-4

    Ulli | shallots | chinna vengayam 25
    Coconut   1/2 cup
    Dhaniya | coriander seeds  1 tblsp
    Red chili   3
    Red chili powder  1-2 tsp
   Tamarind   a small gooseberry size
   Salt   as needed
   Turmeric powder   1/4 tsp
   Mustard seeds   1/4 tsp
   Methi seeds| venthayam  1/4 tsp
   Coconut oil   1 tblsp
   Curry leaves    few  
     

Method:

• In a pan add little coconut oil and add the grated coconut, coriander seeds and red chili.
• Fry this in a medium low flame till the coconut becomes nice golden brown in colour.
• Keep this aside.

• Slice the onions lengthwise. In the same pan add half of the onions and start cooking this.

• Add little oil while cooking and cook the onions till nice golden brown.

• Take it out from the pan and allow the onions to cool completely . 
• Grind this along with the coconut mixture into a smooth paste. Add little water if needed while grinding.

• In a pan add 2 tsp of oil and add the mustard seeds, red chili and venthayam.
• Add the other half of the sliced onions and cook till the onions becomes translucent.

• Add the ground paste to this and add 1/2 cup of water.

• Take 1 cup of thin tamarind extract from the tamarind and add it to the pan. 
• Add red chili powder, turmeric powder, salt and asafoetida. 
• Mix well and cook for 10 minutes in a medium flame. 

• The gravy should come to a thick kuzhambhu consistency.

• Switch off the flame. Ulli theeyal is ready to serve.
• Enjoy this with hot rice. We had with beetroot curry and kerala papadoms.

Notes:

1. Instead of adding coriander seeds while roasting you can add coriander powder while adding red chili powder.
2. 1 tsp of urad dal can be added while roasting .