Pepper garlic kuzhambu (Poondu milagu kuzhambu)

Garlic and pepper both are rich in antioxidants. There's a saying in Tamil, "Pathu milagu irundhaal pagaivan veetilum sappidalaam" which translates to "If you have 10 peppercorns you can have a feast even in an enemy's place". Pepper improves digestion, work as a supplement to cough and cold and best of all its a native to India that's been used world wide. We should be proud of that fact!


Garlic offers numerous cardio vascular benefits. Garlic is clearly able to lower our blood triglycerides and total cholesterol with its Sulfur compounds.


Pepper garlic kuzhambu is generally an austere food that's not too fancy but its healing properties are awesome. This kuzhambu is usually given to lactating mom's during their postnatal times which works good on stomach and supposedly increase the supply of milk.


The following recipe will be sufficient for a family of 3 to 4, scale your proportions accordingly if you want to make for more heads.


Pepper Garlic Kuzhambu

Ingredients:

Tamarind - a lemon sized ball, soaked in hot water for 10 mins

Fry the following in 1/2 tsp of oil and grind into a paste with little water

Red chilli - 1 (if very hot) else 2 or 3 depending on the spice level
Channa dhal - 2 tbsp
Coriander seeds - 1 to 1 1/2 tbsp
Fenugreek seeds or Methi - 1/2 tsp
Black pepper - 2 tsp
Jeera - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - few
Garlic - 5 to 6 cloves

Recipe:



- In a tbsp of seasame oil season with mustard, little fenugreek and a bit of asafoetida (hing).

- Add the tamarind water and boil it with a pinch of turmeric and little salt until raw smell disappears which will take about 10 mins or so


- Add the ground paste and simmer it for another 5 to 10 mins until desired consistency is reached or oil floats on top.












- Add a tsp of seasame oil on top if you prefer. It gives a good aroma.

This kuzhambu tastes divinely with hot rice, a toasted papad and some curry on the side. Enjoy!

Note:

- If you want to serve it to kids, add a tsp of seasame oil or ghee in hot rice and mix this kuzhambu.

- I usually make it almost once in 2 weeks after eating out during the weekends which would have ruined our tummies :-)

- This kuzhambu can stay in fridge for 3 to 4 days. In olden times they even used to leave it outside for several days without any spoilage.

Lets talk something healthy - Millets

Don't get panicked when you see this "healthy" thingy! It is mostly what we are all into just that I got some extra dose of injection because the health fever bit me when I was carrying my daughter, A.

My healthy diet will usually comprise of millets, quinoa, whole grains, no to unrefined, greens, vegetables, seasonal fruits, lots of water.

Let us talk Millet!

I must thank Dr.K.Sivaraman (http://siddhavaithiyan.blogspot.com/) for introducing me to the tiny little grains/seeds. His writings inspired me to start including millet almost everyday by some means. My research took me to this place called Winco Foods in Sacremento, CA where they have bulk bins selling hulled millets (in Tamil it is called "thinai arisi") for a whooping 69 cents a pound!

Now this is when the headache started; what do I make with it? I started looking for options and found this blog https://millets.wordpress.com/. First thing I tried to make was, "Thinai arisi ven pongal".  Pongal is a very forgiving dish. I completely substituted rice for thinai and there's never a going back now. I make pongal now with hulled millet (thinai), barnyard millet (kudiraivaali), kodo millet (varagarisi) and little millet (saamai).

Now coming to idlis/dosas which are the everyday breakfast to little A and this mommy. Idli is a very sensitive food to make. I didn't really want to ruin the texture of a fluffy idli. How about substituting half rice first with millets and try? Voila! It worked! From then on, there are no white idlis in our home. It is either reddish brown because of ragi, grey because of pearl millet (kambu), or dirty white because of jowar (cholam) or others. There's no complaint from my folks just at times when my A asks me for no reddish idlis :-).

With millets you can venture out anything you do with rice. Can make puliyodharai, upma, lemon rice, coriander rice etc. Never fear to try them out. I even started making sarkarai pongal (the sweet variety of pongal with jaggery) with millets. I should call myself obsessed with or possessed by these tiny little giants (oxymoron).

In general about millets, these are tiny little grains rich in manganese, magnesium, copper and phosphorus that are rich nutrients needed by our cells. They are low GI (glycemic index) foods that lowers your blood sugar levels, provide the whole grain benefits and heart healthy. Read more about millets in http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=53

Is there a reason to go back to white rice now? Lets go shopping for millets!

More to follow!

Cheers,
Uma

Welcome to Sema Arrattai my new blog!

Hi All,

Its been my dream to start my own blog. With lot of technology its very possible to own one but time is my constraint. Now with my encouraging husband and my little (not so much) girl, and my pals I'm here into this blogosphere. Hope to meet and chatter with all of you. We can talk, share, lament here. I'll give my 2 cents of culinary experiences, life abroad, work, friends, home remedies, kids, schooling etc. Want to join the ride with me? Then,

Welcome to Sema Arrattai (which means a good chatter)! 

Cheers,

Uma