Poondu kozhambu/ Garlic kozhambu

This recipe is from my grand-mom/ paati's kitchen. She used to make awesome poondu kozhambu on the days we used to have elaborate oil baths. Coming from a tam-bram household, garlic is not the daily ingredient in cooking. I used to hate the smell that comes from garlic and it becomes unpalatable when I think about body odor. I still have that problem. But if and when I  have to consume garlic, I can consume it only in two of the recipes. One of  the two is this. The other recipe is poondu rasam. I will be posting that in a few days and will link it here. People who do not like garlic for the same reasons as me, can try these two recipes and see if it is palatable (for you).  It smells really bad when peeling and starting to cook. But when finished, it is a lot more okay. It is a lot more comforting to think that I can still have garlic , but not sneaking it in every other thing .


Ingredients

Poondu/ Garlic                                             1 head
Tamarind                                                      1 lemon sized ball
Sambhar powder                                          1.25 tsp
Salt                                                               As needed
Asafoetida                                                    1 pinch


To temper

Sesame oil/ Canola oil/ Refined sunflower oil                   1 tblspn
Mustard seeds                                                                      1/2 tsp
Curry leaves                                                                         1 sprig


Method

1. Soak tamarind in hot water for 15 mins to extract tamarind syrup out of it.
2. Peel and cut garlic to smaller pieces if they r too big.
3. Extract about 2 cup fulls of tamarind syrup from the tamarind by adding necessary water to it.
4. Heat a saucepan on stove, add oil. Add mustard seeds to splutter and here comes the smelliest minute of the preparation. Add garlic and mix well. for a full minute or 2 to get it half cooked and get the raw smell out a bit. 
5. Add tamarind syrup, sambhar powder and asafoetida and mix well. The smelliest phase is over now. 
6. Let it simmer on medium heat for 10 minutes. Check if garlic is cooked and add salt. Mix well
7. Let it simmer for 5 more minutes and switch off the stove.

Poondu kozhambu / Garlic kozhambu is ready to be had with potato fry or anything that you have your mind set to.