In this instructable I will explain how to make the tasty Curry Leaves Stew. This nutritious stew is gluten free and can be served with Idli, Dosai, Rice or Flat Bread

Step 1: Ingredients

Large bunch of Curry leaves. Here I have harvested the curry leaves from our kitchen garden. If you buy from market make sure you will get 2 to 3 handful of leaves after removing the stems
2 teaspoons of husked Blackgram lentils (They are also known as white lentils)
2 teaspoons of split Bengal gram
2 teaspoons of split Red gram (Tuvar Dal)
A lemon sized piece of Tamarind
1 teaspoon of Black pepper corns
2 teaspoon of fenugreek seeds (we will use 1 teaspoon for tempering)
2 teaspoons of cumin seeds (we will use 1 teaspoon for tempering)
1 medium sized onion
1 tomato
8 to 10 Garlic cloves
5 to 6 dried Red chillies
Salt to taste. Here I have used Black salt
Oil for cooking

Step 2: Remove Stems and Rinse Curry Leaves

Remove stems and separate the curry leaves. You should have minimum 2 handfuls of the leaves to make the stew
Rinse the leaves in running water to remove any insects or soil particles
Drain out water and keep aside

Step 3: Dry-fry the Curry Leaves

Keep a frying pan over medium heat and add the curry leaves to it
Do not add any oil, just dry-fry till the moisture content evaporates from the leaves and they become dry
Remove from pan and spread the leaves in a plate to cool

Step 4: Prepare Other Ingredients

Chop onion and tomato into small pieces and keep aside
Shuck garlic and chop into small pieces
Soak the lemon sized piece of tamarind in a cup of warm water for about ten minutes
After ten minutes squeeze with your fingers, filter out the tamarind juice and keep aside

Step 5: Dry-fry Other Ingredients

Now we need to dry-fry White gram, Bengal gram, Red gram, Black peeper corns, 1 teaspoon of Cumin seeds and 1 teaspoon of fenugreek seeds separately. you can use the same pan in which curry leaves are dry-fried. All these ingredients are required to be dry-fried separately to prevent over-burning.
Keep 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds and 1 teaspoon of fenugreek seeds for tempering
Break the dried red chillies into pieces and dry-fry in the same pan
You can transfer all these dry-fried ingredients together in a same metal bowl for cooling

Step 6: Make Powder

When all dry-fried ingredients including the curry leaves have been cooled down, transfer every thing together in a mixer grinder jar and grind to a fine powder
The spice powder may be little hot after grinding, so remove from grinder jar and spread in a metal plate and allow to cool to room temperature

Step 7: Preparation Step 1

Heat 2 tablespoons of cooking oil in a frying pan over medium heat
When the oil is heated, add 1 teaspoon each of cumin seed and fenugreek seed we kept aside and a bunch of curry leaves to oil
When the cumin seeds start to crack, add chopped onions and garlic cloves
Saute till onions are fried to a golden brown

Step 8: Preparation Step 2

Add chopped tomatoes to the pan and saute till oil oozes out from sides
Pour the tamarind juice to the pan and add salt to taste
Mix all ingredients together, close the lid and keep over medium flame till the mix starts to boil

Step 9: Preparation Step 3

Once the mix in the pan starts to boil, add powdered ingredients and mix well
You can add a cup of water to the pan if the mix seems to be very thick
Stir continuously to prevent the stew from sticking to the bottom of the pan

Step 10: Remove From Pan

After a few minutes you will find all water content from the stew evaporated and oil bubbles up on top
Now put off the flame and transfer the contents to a serving bowl

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with Idli, Dosai, Rice or Flat bread