Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Milagu Kuzhambu / Pepper Kuzhambu


As I have posted the lunch menu along with this kuzhambu I m here with the recipe. The kuzhambu is lip smackingly delicious and spicy and both M and I love this kuzhambu. Its my Amma’s special. Se pairs it with Kathirikkai kootu,paruppu thugayal and sutta appalam. I have made some changes to the pairings (lunch menu 3) and it was equally tasty. The recipe is authentic and I followed the recipe to the T as I don’t want even a slightest change in the taste and it worked. Do give it a try!
Ingredients:
Shallots/chinna vengayam/Pearl onions-15, whole& peeled
Garlic-20 cloves, whole& peeled
Turmeric Powder-1/4 tsp
Jaggery/vellam-1 tbsp (optional)
Tamarind-small lemon sized ball, soaked in 2 cups of water to get the extract
Salt-as needed
To Roast and Grind:
Kopparai/dried coconut*-1/2 cup
Coriander seeds-2 tbsp
Peppercorns-2 tbsp
Channa dal-1 tbsp
Cumin seeds-1/2 tsp
Sesame seeds/ellu-1 tsp
Dried Red chilies-4
Curry leaves-1 sprig
Oil-1 tsp
Heat oil in a pan, add curry leaves and fry till they are crisp, then add the ingredients one by one and fry until all ingredients turn golden brown. Switch off the flame allow it to cool and add a little water and grind to a very fine/smooth paste.
To Temper:
Gingelly oil/sesame oil/til oil/nallennai-3 tbsp + 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds-1 tsp
Urad dal-1 tsp
Fenugreek seeds/vendhayam-1/4 tsp
Asafoetida- a pinch
How It Happened:
1. Heat 3 tbsp of oil in a kadai, add the ingredients given under the ‘to temper’ list. When they pop, add the shallots, garlic and turmeric powder and keep frying in medium flame until their skin starts blistering.
2. Add the ground paste to this mixture and mix well. Let them cook for 2 minutes.
3. Add the tamarind extract and 2 more cups of water and add salt. Mix well and let this mixture cook and boil in medium for 10 minutes.
4. When the mixture is reduced to half the quantity, simmer the flame keep cooking for another 10-15 minutes. Keep stirring now and then.
5. When the mixture is again reduced add the reaming 2 tbsp of oil and keep cooking for 2 minutes.
6. Now the kuzhambu will start leaving the sides with the oil bubbling out of the edges.
7. Now add the powdered jaggery, mix once cook for 2 minutes and switch off the flame.
8. Let it rest for 10 minutes for rounding off the flavors. It tastes best the next day.
9. Serve with rice.

Notes:
* Kopparai/dried coconut helps in improving the shelf life of the kuzhambu. But if you can’t get it, use fresh coconut but make sure you roast them well to golden brown and it has no moisture left.
* Use of gingelly oil is a must. They add great flavor and you would miss something if you don’t add gingelly oil. Please be generous while adding oil else the kuzhambu will not taste the same. The oil should form a layer above the kuzhambu when rested. That’s the right consistency of the kuzhambu.
*While roasting ingredients to grind, the curry leaves should be roasted well first as they are the one with high moisture content among other ingredients and also they continue to cook when other ingredients are roasted.
* While reducing the water the mixture gets cooked well. Keep stirring now then as they tend to stick at the bottom but when you scour it with the ladle they easily come off.
* Jaggery is added to balance the acidity from tamarind and trust me it doesn’t make your kuzhambu sweet but adds an edge. You can skip it if you want.
* The consistency should be thick. It shouldn’t be watery like a kuzhambu.
* Store it in a dry clean air-tight container. It has a shelf life of 15 days in refrigerator. As they are spicy just a spoon with rice and you will be good to go. I have stored it for upto 1 month for M when I leave for vacations.  

* If you have mann chatty/earthenware pot/kadai make this kuzhambu in that pot as it tastes heavenly. But I didn’t have any so I made it in regular kadai. But try not to make it in non-stick.

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