Milagu Kuzhambu- Pepper Kuzhambu

Milagu kuzhambu is a delicious, flavorful south Indian gravy with black peppercorns, curry leaves and few more medicinal spices. No onion no garlic recipe, vegan recipe.

Pepper kuzhambu is a traditional recipe where black peppercorns are ground with few spices and simmered with tamarind pulp. It stays good for a week in refrigerator and tastes good with rice, dosa, idli.

For more kuzhambu recipes please check vatha kuzhambu, kara kuzhambu, paruppu urundai kuzhambu, poricha kuzhambu.

Kuzhambu or sambar is the first course served with rice in south Indian meals. Sambar is often made with tamarind and lentils, while kuzhambu is made without lentils mostly.

It is a very thick, spicy and tangy gravy best eaten with steamed rice. Like any other traditional recipe there are many many variations with kuzhambu recipe too and this milagu kuzhambu is an age old one with medicinal benefits.

It is made in many ways and I am sharing my method with you all. Do try this out and enjoy!

About Milagu Kuzhambu

Milagu kuzhambu is a traditional south Indian kuzhambu recipe with black pepper as main ingredient. It is regularly prepared in many south Indian homes to treat common cold, as a simple digestive aid after heavy festive meals and also during monsoons.

The health benefits of peppercorn is plenty and this kuzhambu is one of the easy and tasty ways to include it in our diet. You can many variants in this recipe like adding garlic, cumin seed, carom seeds. I have mentioned few variations too. Milagu rasam is also often made for the same purpose.

Milagu kuzhambu tastes very different from your regular sambar or kuzhambu. It has that unique spiciness from peppercorns and flavor from roasted lentils and curry leaves. It is abso0lutely delicious and addictive.

Best way to enjoy milagu kuzhambu is with hot rice. Mix freshly steamed rice with this kuzhambu and some ghee, yum!

To make pepper kuzhambu we will first make a paste of roasted lentils, peppercorns and curry leaves. This paste is simmered with tamarind and salt in a tempering of mustard seeds and curry leaves.

The entire recipe is made with gingelly oil for best authentic flavor and taste. If it is not available you can also use sesame oil for this pepper gravy. You can also use any cooking oil here.

This stew is super thick, hearty and has a good shelf life. It keeps well for even a week in refrigerator. You can adjust the consistency as per your preference. I am a big fan of this traditional recipe and make it very often.

Do try out this easy milagu kuzhambu recipe and enjoy. It is

healthy with medicinal benefits

easy to make

stays good for a week

vegan

delicious with rice and ghee

good for treating cold and indigestion

How To Make Milagu Kuzhambu Recipe

Pick and rinse 1.5 tablespoons urad dal, 1.5 tablespoons channa dal and 1 teaspoon toor dal. Also clean 1/4 cup curry leaves, 4 dried red chillies and 2 teaspoons black pepper corns.

Take 1 tablespoon tamarind and add 1 cup warm water to it. Set aside for 15 minutes and then extract thick juice from it. You can also add the tamarind extract (readymade) if you like.

Heat 3 teaspoons sesame oil in a pan. Add asafoetida first and fry well. Add peppercorns, Chana dal, urad dal, curry leaves, and dried red chilli. Fry until the lentils turn aromatic and golden brown.

Take the roasted ingredients in a mixer grinder jar. Add 1/4 cup water and grind to a smooth paste.

To make milagu kuzhanbu heat 1 tablespoon oil in a pan again. Add 1 teaspoon mustard seeds, 1/2 teaspoon methi seeds or fenugreek seeds and 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds. Also add 6-7 curry leaves.

Now add the ground paste and saute for a minute. Next add the tamarind extract and mix. Also add 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder, salt to taste and 1 teaspoon grated jaggery.

Mix well Finally add 1 more cup water

Mix and cook until the gravy boils well for 3-4 minutes. Then simmer and cook for another 6-7 minutes until the gravy thickens. It should be very thick as you can see in the photo.

Once done, add 1 tablespoon sesame oil, mix well and remove from flame. Serve hot with rice and ghee.

Variations With The Recipe

Along with lentils and pepper you can also add 1 teaspoon coriander seeds, 1 teaspoon carom seeds or omam for more flavor.

You can also add 4 garlic cloves along with other ingredients to make poondu milagu kuzhambu or garlic pepper kulambu.

Also you can add 12 pearl onions or shallots while frying mustard seeds.

You can make it as a very thick gravy and serve as side dish with idli, dosa too.

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