Milagu Kozhambu

Ingredients:

1. Urad dal - 5 tsp.
2. Pepper - 2 tsp.
3. Red chillies - 3
4. Curry leaves - a lot ( around 30-40 leaves)
5. Asafoetida - 1/2 inch piece
6. Tamarind pulp - 1 cup 
7. Salt - to taste
8. Jaggery - a small pinch ( optional)
9. Oil - 3 tsp.
10. Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp.

Procedure:

1. In 2 tsp. of oil, roast asafoetida, pepper and red chilies. Keep them aside. In the same oil, roast urad dal till it turns slightly reddish and keep it aside. Now roast the curry leaves in the remaining traces of oil. Grind them all together.
2. In a kadai, heat a tsp. of oil and season with mustard seeds.
3. Add tamarind pulp and boil till the raw smell of tamarind is gone.
4. Add salt and the ground masala.
5. Boil for 5-10 minutes till the gravy thickens. Add a pinch of jaggery to neutralise the spicy taste.

This kozhambu can be stored for upto a week in the fridge like Vattal Kozhambu.

This tastes good when eaten with paruppu sadam. Add a tbsp. of this as a side-dish for dal rice or just plain white rice with ghee/gingelly oil.

In case you need some cultural introduction to Milagu Kozhambu and do not know how much of  it must be consumed, here is a bit of caution: Since this is quite spicy, make sure you add the kozhambu in a moderate quantity and not pour it into rice like rasam :P

Once I had made this kozhambu and kept in the fridge and my m-i-l thought it was ordinary "saaru" and poured a huge amount into rice. And the rest is history. So be careful!