SPECIAL SAUCE:Conjuring A Scoundrel

     Niceness is very nice, but can get a bit boring. Every now and then I am in the mood to conjure a scoundrel in the kitchen. It must be charming and definitely not-nice... yet still seemingly pleasant enough to bypass all of one's defenses.... [Insert devilish laughter here.]

     And that, my spicing comrades, is charisma-- that inexplicable 'something' that sneaks just beyond the radar of awareness. The immeasurable, invisible magnet. Such an element can be a challenge to find, let alone master. Perhaps that's why people are drawn to it.

    I am drawn to it. What's more, I want to create it if I can't be it. 

    And so now it is exposed--my underlying (indecent?) intentions with spicing. I've laid them out bare for you to see.  My secret (scandalous?) peacock feathers.

     No matter --  it's not you I'm wanting to cast spells upon. It is you I'm wanting to cast spells with. We're in this together, if you care to join me. And if you want to remain a spectator lurking lurking lurking in the shadows? Well, that's OK, too. No shame in that. Observing is a noble way to learn, even if you don't participate right away.

    Today's scoundrel sensation takes the form of the kulambu--a tangy tomato-based sauce that can sometimes be found poured over nothing more than plain white rice as a South Indian meal course. That's right; it can hold it's own when it comes to satisfying flavor and texture. And once you've tasted a kulambu, it will thereafter draw you in. My mouth tingles just thinking about it.

     With the kulambu, I initially 'went traditional'  with several different cookbook recipes, which tend to stew the sauce with a main ingredient.  On a few occasions, I have cooked up 'Egg Kulambu,' simmering halved hard-boiled eggs in the tart, ruby-red gravy.  (Quite good, really, though I wasn't fond of the leftover eggs.) For the most part, I like to cook up a sauce such as this one, pour it in a jar, and have my own 'create-a-meal simmering sauce' handy and ready to go.  And really-- anything goes, whatever my heart's desire or whatever I have on hand. I follow the moment.

  Just yesterday I had Trina pull out this recipe that Trobee and I crafted last year.  Trina, in case you didn't know, is a 'nice' girl (read her bio). Could she pull this one off? Granted, Trobee was  involved in this recipe's creation, and all Trina had to do was follow directions...

    "Don't worry," I  assured her,  "We'll omit the chilies..." But would a kulambu sauce even 'work' without the customary hot nip? I said nothing. Let's see what she comes up with.

       The resulting sauce 'worked' --for even she was drawn in.  I had to make more the next day, as she had smuggled it home with her,  presumably to eat with  her leftover chicken.  (Trina eats everything with chicken.)

     Who would have thought that sweet, reliable Trina would become a pirate of  kulambu?

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Ruby Kulambu Sauce

"I have a vision with this sauce,"  I declared to Trobee upon this recipe's  completion.
     "Pasta," she said, gazing into it. "I'm thinking 'pasta' with this bad boy."
     "Yeah, pasta, sure. But how 'bout a big vat of kulambu sauce in the center of the  table and food just sort of grouped together around it: like steamed vegetables, rice, meat, pasta, flatbread, whatever. And people could, like, take what they're hungry for, and just go wild with the kulambu...just pour it on their plates and sop it up..."
     Yes. Yes.  I had, at that moment, visions of vegetarians, vegans and carnivores alike, 'sopping it up' together in blissful harmony. Only a sauce with charisma could swing that.
     "Sure," she replied absently. "Or you could just serve it with pasta..."
     Hmf.

• 2 tsp oil
• 1 cup diced onion
• 2 tsp minced garlic or garlic paste
• 1/2 tsp tamarind concentrate, dissolved in 1 Tb water
• 2 cups tomato sauce
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 1/2 Tb flour
• 1 tsp honey or sugar

Masala 1:

• 3" cinnamon stick
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• ½ tsp fennel seeds
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tsp urad dal

Masala 2:

• ¼ tsp fenugreek powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• ¼ tsp coarse-ground pepper
• 2 tsp coriander powder

Get out your medium skillet and heat the oil until it is sizzle-hot. Add Masala 1.

When the urad dal is golden-brown, add the onions and garlic.

When the onion is soft and translucent, add Masala 2 followed by the tamarind water.

Now add the tomato sauce, salt, chili powder, flour, and 1 cup of water. Bring it to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in the honey. Done.

UPDATE 3/31 Trobee's friend Tascha submitted this pic of her Spaghetti Veggie Kulambu