Thumbuli - Karpoora Valli

"Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food". ~ Hippocrates

 

As an avid reader of health and nutrition literature, I am on the look for means to incorporate herbs and spices into the daily menu. P's mother sent some Karpoora Valli/Doddapathre/Omma Valli leaves to urge me to make a chutney out of it for coughs and colds. My mother also grows this aromatic herb at home and made me plant one here in the backyard. The leaves can be consumed as a chutney or crushed between the hands to extract a juice. I suppose the juice is much more potent. That is my mother's take atleast. I am more than glad to have another chutney under my sleeve to make breakfast more interesting. In any case, this recipe definitely needs to be documented for its medicinal value.

Thumbuzhi is the final name of the dish when the chutney is mixed in with yogurt/thick curd to get a thick raita type consistency. Mother in law asked me to mix the thumbuli with hot white rice and serve it first in the meal, before eating anything else. It absorbs best in empty stomach I infer. We ate it with idli as a chutney and rice as the thumbuli and loved it both ways.

Karpoora valli leaves - 1 packed cup

Fresh grated coconut - 1/2 cup

Jeera/Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Red Chillies - 1 or 2

Dry roast the jeera seed for less than a minute, just toast them. Set aside. Heat a spoon of ghee and let the red chilly crackle, add the leaves and fry for a minute. Next add the coconut and fry. Grind this mixture along with cumin seeds without adding water, to a smooth paste in the mixie. Chutney ready. This chutney keeps well for a whole week or 10 days in the fridge. Just before the meal, take the chutney and mix in curd to get the thumbuli for rice.