Milagu Vellam

You need
Pepper powder -1 tspn
Turmeric - a pinch
Salt
Buttermilk/beaten curd - 1 cup
Water -1/2 cup

Seasoning
Ghee - 1 tspn
Mustard seeds -1/2 tspn
Red chilly - 1 nos
Methi seeds -1/2 tspn
Curry leaves

Boil half cup water.
Add pepper powder,turmeric and salt.

When it boils and starts to thicken, add buttermilk/beaten curd. When the quanity of water is reduced by nearly half, you can add buttermilk. You need not wait till it becomes a thick paste.
The conistency required is watery.

When the mixture starts to froth on the top, remove from fire. You should be careful at this stage, if you let it boil more, the curd/buttermilk will get curdled.

Take a pan. Add ghee. You can subsitute gingely oil for ghee. Add mustard, red chilly,
methi seeds and curry leaves. Add the seasoning to the milagu vellam.

The word vellam means Water in malayalam and malayalam words are an integral part of Kerala Iyer lingua. As the name suggests, the consistency of the gravy is watery. This is usually prepared for dinner in my house during rainy days.

Very light and healthy milagu vellam can be eaten with hot rice, with pappads or any vegetable side dish as accompaniments.