Milagu jeera Rasam / Pepper Cumin Rasam

 Jeera Milagu Rasam is a comforting meal which is a soothing Indian style soup flavored with fresh ground pepper and cumin enhanced with the aroma of fresh curry leaves and ghee tempering.

There are many recipes with mild variations to make this aromatic and tasty milagu jeera Rasam, but today I shall share with you my amma's recipe which has been my childhood favorite. 

Growing up, I used to come down with cold and cough with every single weather change and this yummy rasam mixed with soft rice and ghee used to be a staple . It used to be so soothing and calming to the sore throat and would also give the dull taste buds a quick rejuvenation. 

Even to this day,I make jeera milagu rasam (saathamudhu) when even one person in the family is under the weather. 

Having said that , the last couple of days one after another,  people at home are coming down with sore throat , cold ,cough due to the sudden change in weather in my city. Jeera milagu rasam has been on the menu ever since and hubby loves to sip on hot rasam with fresh ghee  tempering which smells of fried asafoetida and crackled jeera . 

To make jeera milagu rasam, we donot use the regular rasam powder instead we make a fresh spice mix by roasting pepper corns , jeera ,red chilly and pigeon peas (thoor dhall). 

I use tomato as well as tamarind in this recipe, but you can skip the tomatoes and make it just with tamarind and spice mix .

Preparation Time - 5 mins
Cooking Time - 15 mins
Complexity - simple 
Serves - 2 to 3

Ingredients 

For the spice mix

1.5 tsp pepper corns /milagu
1 tsp cumin /jeera
1/2 tsp thoor dhall
2 dry red chillies
Pinch of asafoetida 

For the rasam

1 medium sized tomato
Small lemon sized tamarind 
3 cups water 
Salt as needed 

Tempering 

2 tsp ghee  (use cooking oil for Vegan version) 
1/4 tsp jeera
1/4 tsp mustard 
1/2 tsp pepper powder 
Pinch of asafoetida /hing
Fresh curry leaves and corriander 

Method 

• Dry roast the ingredients mentioned under the spice mix and blend it to a fine powder . Set aside . 
• Blanch the tomatoes along with the tamarind for 5 to 6 mins .
• Once it cools down, squeeze out the puree from the tamarind and tomato.  Pass it through a sieve and collect it in a thick bottom vessel.
• Add 2 cups of water to the tamarind tomato puree with some salt and boil it till the raw flavor of tamarind is lost. This will take about 8 to 10 mins.
• Make a paste of the spice mix with little water and add this to the boiling tamarind water and cook on low flame till you see the rasam frothing . Turn it off at this stage and garnish with fresh corriander leaves. 
• Heat ghee in a pan and splutter the mustard seeds, followed by jeera and curry leaves.  Turn off the stove , add asafoetida and pepper powder .pour this tempering over the rasam.
• Sip on the hot rasam as is or mix it with steamed rice and enjoy with some roasted papads and simple potato stir fry /urulai kaara curry.

Some more rasam varieties to enjoy 

Lemon Rasam

Tomato Rasam

Kalyana Rasam

Mor Rasam 

Pin me up

Herbal drink | Kadha | Kashayam

 In Tamil there is a saying "Unnave Marundhu aagum" meaning "Food can be the best medicine " and I totally agree to it . Each ingredient in our pantry has its own medicinal effect .

Our Masala dabba or Anjarai Petti is a mini medicine box in itself . Our elders used each of these ingredients so meticulously and more so they used them according to seasons and climatic conditions so that the family remained healthy and disease free.

To quote some ; fenugreek , buttermilk /curd , lemon, jaggery based dishes were made more frequently during summer months to keep the body cool and hydrated while recipes using ginger, pepper , curry leaves , ajwain were made during winter and monsoons which is when seasonal sickness like flu , cold cough etc would creep in. 

Some ingredients like jeera , asafoetida,turmeric,ghee ,dhaniya/corriander seeds which have general health benefits were used as a part of day to day cooking .

Apart from these,herbal concoctions known as kaadha,kashaya, kashayam used to be consumed incase people fell sick with minor ailments like cold ,cough,loose motions,stomach disorders ,mild fever etc . These were known as Nanima k nuske or Paati Vaidhiyam and were very effective if consumed correctly. 

Yester year generations or our ancestors tried to treat and heal the body naturally instead of providing external medical supplements.  Ancient scriptures have enough evidence to prove how Indians were pioneers in the field of medical study like Ayurveda , Siddha etc .

I have already blogged two different types of kaadha/ kashayam; one using fresh ingredients and another one using a herbal spice powder which can be prepared and stored. Click on the images below for the detailed recipes of Kashayam and Herbal tea .

 .

Thanks to Aruna of Vasu's veg kitchen who suggested we all share some Herbal Home remedies or Paati Vaidhiyam as part of this week's Foodie Monday Bloghop event theme . She has a very simple but effective Ginger and Lemon green tea to boost immunity and aide weight loss.

As this is a season of monsoon, there is every likelihood that we may get drenched and come down with some mild viral fever or body aches, in that case try to have this warm herbal concoction 2 to 3 times a day to get relief . 

Today we shall see another very simple concoction using just 3 ingredients which are easily available on our kitchen shelves.  Detailed recipe below

Dry ginger powder (sonth/chukku) - very good analgesic and antioxidant .

Turmeric powder /Haldi - antiseptic, anti inflammatory, anti viral as well as anti bacterial 

Pepper powder  - Aids digestion, respiratory relief, fights cold and also enhances the effect of other herbs.

**pls do seek medical advice if you experience any other symptoms.  These are just home remedies to get better along with medication. 

Preparation Time - 2 mins
Boiling Time - 3 mins
Complexity - simple 

Ingredients 

1/2 tsp dry ginger powder
2 pinches turmeric powder
1 pinch pepper powder 
1 glass water (200ml)

 Method 

• Add all the above ingredients to water and boil it well for 2 to 3 mins.
• Strain this decoction and drink it warm atleast  2 to 3 times a day to get relief. Prepare it fresh as far as possible instead of reheating. 
• You may add some honey , jaggery or palm candy (panam kalakandu) if you find the concoction pungent . 
• Donot use sugar to sweeten this drink.

Linking it to week # 263 Herbal & Health of FMBH 

Milagu Kuzhambu / Pepper Kuzhambu - Vegan Recipe

Pepper Kuzhambu / Milagu Kuzhambu is an authentic South Indian recipe that is very popular  in Tamil Brahmin households.

Milagu Kuzhambu is a very comforting food for winter and monsoon days to pep our moods due to the nip in temperature and we begin to feel under the weather. Pepper helps cure cold,cough and throat irritation . 

Paired with hot steamed rice with a slight drizzle of ghee and some poriyal /kariamudhu ( coconut based vegetable stir fry )  is the classic way to enjoy milagu kozhambu.

Today's recipe is dedicated to my Mom. I have very very vivid memories of seeing her prepare this kuzhambu but never had any authentic recipe. The best part of falling sick in childhood especially the seasonal flu would be ,I used to get to enjoy this yummy milagu Kuzhambu and milagu jeera Rasam which amma would feed me with her own hands . Indeed a luxury those days.

With those vivid memories in my mind I started the preparation this morning and Viola !! it was just the same taste and texture that was lingering on my taste buds for which I was craving...

 

The recipe as such is vegan since we use gingelly oil/Sesame oil to prepare the Kuzhambu.  Alternatively we can also use any non flavored cooking oil if you don't like the taste of sesame oil. Can be gluten free if you skip the use of asafoetida. 

Milagu Kuzhambu also works best when you want to have some light yet tasty meal after heavy binge eating at functions or vacations .

This recipe was initially published in 2017 and today (26th March 2023) I have updated the post with better pictures which has been a long over due . Republishing the post as part of our Redo activity week 97.

Preparation Time : 10 min
Cooking Time : 45 min
Cooking level : medium
Serves : 3-4

Ingredients

1 tsp pepper corns / milagu/ kalimirch
1 tsp dhaniya / corriander seeds
3-4 dry red chilly
1/2 tsp thoor dhall /thuvaram paruppu
1/2 tsp Channa dhall/kadalai paruppu
10 - 12 curry leaves/karvepillai/kadipatha
2 tsp grated coconut (optional)
pinch of asafoetida/hing/perungayam
2-3 tsp gingelly oil/til oil/ nallennai
Tamarind - a small ball
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp jaggery

Method

• Soak the tamarind in hot water and let it rest until you roast and grind the ingredients.
• In a kadai heat about 1 tsp oil and add the channa dhall and thoor dhall along with the pepper corns and saute until you feel the aroma of roasted dhalls and pepper.
• Add in the dhaniya,red chillies,curry leaves and saute till the curry leaves becomes crisp.
• Finally add the coconut and asafoetida,saute well and turn off the stove.
• Let it cool and then grind all the ingredients with a little water to a fine paste.
• By now,the tamarind would have soaked well,squeeze a thick paste of tamarind juice from the soaked tamarind and nicely filter it. Add about 1 cup water to this thick paste of tamarind juice.

• Heat a kadai and add one teaspoon of gingelly oil and temper mustard seeds and curry leaves.
• Add the tamarind juice,haldi,salt and jaggery and bring to a nice rolling boil till the raw smell of tamarind is lost.
• Add the ground paste and quickly mix it to avoid formation of lumps due to presence of dhall.
• Now adjust the salt and boil it until you see the oil oozing out from the center.
• Turn off the stove at this point and transfer into a bowl and serve with steamed rice and roasted papads

Notes:

1. Those who like garlic ,can also add one or two pods of garlic while roasting other ingredients.
2. Not much oil will ooze out in this recipe as I have used very little oil.
3. The jaggery part is optional,but it will enhance the flavor of tamarind and give a very good taste.

Pin up