Black pepper Kuzhampu

It is a very delicious and tasty sambar like liquid preparation, taken and enjoyed with rice, puri, chappathi, bread, paratha, idli, dosai, oothappam, etc.

• Cut 200 gm sambar onion (small onion) and a tomato.
• Dissolve lemon sized tamarind in water.
• Fry one tsp each of black pepper (kali mirch / milagu), cumin seed (jeera- jeeragam), black gram (uluttham paruppu /urad dal), Bengal gram (kadalai paruppu / channa dal), ¼ tsp of fenugreek (methi / vendhayam), a piece of dry ginger (sukku / shoont) and 4 red chilies. Garlic (lasoon / poondu) can be added with this as optional.
• Add a little water and grind well into paste.
• Heat a pan and fry in oil the seasonings consist of mustard (kaduku / rai), black gram, fenugreek and cumin seed.
• Add onion, tomato, tamarind extract, salt, the well grinded paste and curry leaves.
• Add some water if required.
• Remove from flame after boiling.

Red Chili Chutney / Varamilagai Thuvaiyal

It is an easy to prepare Tamil home recipe, also called Milakai / Chilli / Lal mirchi / Lal mirch / tuvaial / thohaiyal / thovaiyal / thovial / thovaial.


Ingredients:

• Red chili (Varamilakai): 7
• Tomato (Thakkali): 2
• Onion (Vengayam): 1
• Tamarind (Puli / imli): A little (A small lemon sized ball)
• Curry leaves (Karuveppilai / kari veppilai / kari patha): About 10
• Mustard (Kadugu / Rai / Sarson): ½ tsp
• Black gram (Uluntham paruppu / uluththam paruppu / Urad dhal / dal): ¼ tsp
• Split chick peas (kadalai paruppu / Channa dal): 1 tsp
• Oil for frying: 1 table spoon
• Salt: As required
  
  

Method of preparation:

• Cut the onion.
• Cut the tomatoes.
• Heat 1 tsp of oil in a wok (iruppu chatti / tawa).
• Add split chick peas, curry leaves and red chilies.
• Wait for spluttering and add onion.
• Sauté well.
• Add the tomatoes.
• Continue sauté for a while.
• Add the tamarind ball and stir.
• Remove from flame.
• After cooling, finely grind all the ingredients with salt.
• Heat again 2 tsp of oil in a wok.
• Add mustard followed by black gram.
• Allow to splutter.
• Mix this with the chutney and transfer to a serving dish.
  

Tastes good with hot idli / idly, dosai / dosa, Puri, purotta / barotta / parantha, vellai paniyaram, kulipaniyaram, etc.