Milagu Kuzhambu | Pepper dhal gravy

When I think of my mom's recipes, quite a few pop up in the kitchen quite often. While some of them still hold the first rank if I have to give them a prize, a few of them were re-discovered in my kitchen when I started cooking. We all have that favourite dish right from the childhood but some of them which we never liked or tasted, do get it own credit later. I have a few to name in my cooking journey as well. When I started to sense the ingredients by visualising it, tasting it, feeling how it gets done, what flavour it imparts in the dish - the whole idea of what an ingredient can do to a dish became meaningful. This dish is one such, which was never my favourite nor one which I liked to eat. Having said that, that's not the case anymore.

     

There are various good things associated with this gravy; mainly because of the base ingredients. Pepper is well known for its health benefits especially for digestion/flu. Dhal gives the protein boost. There have always been tell tale stories that this recipe is usually made after you have had heavy meals for a few days to ease the digestive system (typically after a festival). When the calmness strikes after that, your mother is bound to make this recipe to pair it along with some simple paruppu kootu (vegetable dhal stew) or any thogayal. The feeling of experiencing the pepper taste in your throat when it goes down is soothing. 

It's the recipe in your menu after a heavy Indian wedding food.

It's the recipe in your menu when you get flu or sick.
It's the recipe in your menu on any rainy day!

Welcome the peppery tangy 'Milagu Kuzhambu'! 

My father-in-law used to say that this is best tasted after a few days as the pepper and the dhal gets a wonderful flavour when it is given the time to sit down. Usually, this gets made in a big quantity in my home and this is stored for the weekday so I can just make a side-dish to go for it. 

The main ingredients in this gravy are the pepper, tamarind and the tuvar dhal. 

Ingredients:

Pepper - 1 tbsp

Tuvar dhal - 3 tbsp

salt - as needed

Jeera/Cumin - 1/2 tbsp

Red chillies (long) - 4

Sunflower oil or Gingelly oil - 3 tbsp

tamarind - one small lime sized ball 

Garlic - 10-15 or more as per your requirement

For Tempering:
Mustard - 1tsp

Red chillies - 1

Curry leaves - 10-15

Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tsp

Recipe:

Soak the tamarind in hot water for 15- 20 minutes. Smash the tamarind with the water and filter the tamarind water. 

Grind the base paste:

Add a little oil to the pan; let it get heated. once heated, add the dal and start roasting it. Add the cumin and red chillies to the dal to get roasted evenly. When you see the dal getting a little brown, lastly, add the pepper and switch off flame after 1 min. The heat should slightly warm up the pepper. Allow it to cool down and once it gets to the normal temperature, grind it along with some water to a fine paste.

Making the Gravy:

Pell the garlic and if needed, you can cut them down to small pieces. I like them as a whole in this recipe. Heat the pan again and add the oil. It is preferred to use Nallenei (Gingelly oil, some call it sesame oil) for this recipe as it enhances the taste. Once the oil is heated, add the mustard. When the mustard splitters, add the red chilli and fenugreek seeds. Following them, is the garlic. Roast the garlic for a minute so that the flavour is incorporated in the oil. Our grinded paste follows the garlic to be added in the oil. Next goes in the tamarind water and mix it well with the paste. Add the curry leaves to the gravy. You can add additional water as you like your gravy to be. Let it boil. Once you see the mixture has been boiling well along with the quantity reduced, switch it off. 

Rice + ghee + Milagu Kuzhambu = divine!