
Milagu poondu kuzhambu or pepper garlic gravy is a south Indian gravy served with rice. Step by step pictures post.
This milagu poondu kuzhambu (Pepper garlic gravy) recipe was sent to me by a reader Ramya Shankaran. Thank you for taking time to send it Ramya. I tried today and loved it. Any tangy spicy kuzhambu is my kind of lunch, I can have it for a week. As Vj and Aj are not fan of tangy kuzhambu I rarely make. Today I made this along with cabbage kootu and thought of posting too. This has pepper in it, so good very flavorful along with garlic.

Milagu poondu kuzhambu or pepper garlic gravy
Ingredients
- Small onion / Shallots – 1/4 cup
- Tamarind – Gooseberry size / 1 tbsp
- Turmeric – 1/4 tsp
- Jaggery – 1/2 tsp Optional
- Salt – As needed
To sautee and grind
- Black pepper – 2 tsp
- Red chilli – 4
- Garlic – 1/4 cup
- Jeera/ cumin seeds – 1 tsp
- Onion – 1
- Tomato – 1
- Curry leaves – 3 sprigs
To temper
- Sesame oil – 1 tbsp
- Fenugreek seeds / vendhayam – 1/2 tsp
- Mustard – ½ tsp
- Curry leaves – 1 sprig Optional
Instructions
- In a kadai, heat a tsp of oil and add pepper, red chilli first, give it a stir and then jeera and garlic. Fry for a minute
- Add onion, tomato, curry leaves and fry for 2 minutes in medium flame.
- Option: If you like whole garlic in your kuzhambu, you can reserve 3/4th garlic and sautee just 1/4th of the garlic.
- Cool down and grind to a paste. Add little water if needed.
- Extract tamarind pulp by soaking it in hot water for 30 mins, with a cup of water.
- Heat oil, temper with the items given under ‘To temper’ table in order.
- Add peeled onion and fry till golden. Add whole garlic if you have reserved in first step.
- Add tamarind pulp, salt, turmeric, jaggery and boil for 2 minutes.
- Add ground paste and add more water (1 & 1/2 cups) and mix well.
- Boil until thick (Roughly 5 minutes) and transfer to the serving bowl.
Notes
Milagu poondu kuzhambu method:
- In a kadai, heat a tsp of oil and add pepper, red chilli first, give it a stir and then jeera and garlic. fry for a minute and add onion, tomato, curry leaves and fry for 2 minutes in medium flame. Option : If you like whole garlic in your kuzhambu, you can reserve 3/4th garlic and sautee just 1/4th of the garlic.
- Cool down and grind to a paste. Add little water if needed. Extract tamarind pulp by soaking it in hot water for 30 mins, with a cup of water.
- Heat oil, temper with the items given under ‘To temper’ table in order. Add peeled onion and fry till golden. Add whole garlic if you have reserved in first step.
- Add tamarind pulp, salt, turmeric, jaggery and boil for 2 minutes. Add ground paste and add more water (1 & 1/2 cups) and mix well.
- Boil until thick (Roughly 5 minutes) and transfer to the serving bowl.
Serve with rice and any mild kootu, poriyal. Delicious, tangy and flavorful kuzhambu for rice.

This comment has been removed by the author.
Can u suggest milagu kozhambu without onion garlic.
am a big fan of kuzhambu and will try this recipe asap.
am a big fan of kuzhambu and will try this recipe asap.
http://www.rakskitchen.net/2013/06/easy-pepper-kuzhambu-recipe-milagu.html
Raks,
Tried this kulambu today….YUMMY!!!!
Thanks
Hi
I tried this kuzhambu it tasted awesome! Thanks for the recipe
Looks lovely, will try it. Any tip on peeling small onions. I find it very time consuming.
You can add in water to peel it easily (After cutting the top and tail)
This kuzhambu is getting ready at my home as I type this… Looks inviting and delicious! Thanks for the recipe 🙂
I tried this once and my flatmates and I loved it. We make this in our apartment atleast once every two weeks.
Thank you for this. Awesome with hot rice.
Most simple and easiest recipe ever. Thanks.
Thanks a lot