Marinated Chillies / Moar Milagai

"Make hay when the sun shines" goes the famous saying. I would re-frame it as "Make marinated chillies when the sun shines" ;)

Yes! Hot.. hotter.. and hottest is the summer now and this is when you can make all your vadams(fryums) and moar milagai varieties.

I have a lot of nostalgic memories about grandma making vadam and moar milagai at home. Me and sis used to sit in the terrace to safeguard it and would easily blame the squirrels for every vadam we eat up ;)

This time grandma was sweet enough to make and bring some for me :)

So just thought of posting about it and her secret methods are gonna be revealed here....

There are four types of moar milagai that granny makes. Each of it has its own taste and is yumm is all sense. Goes great along with creamy curd rice :)

Marinated chillies/ Moar Milagai

You can use Long green chillies or the fat and short ones to make this variety of moar milagai.

Ingredients:

Long green chillies/Short and fat chillies - 1 kg
Sour Butter Milk - 1 Lt
Asafoetida(perungayam) - 2 tsp
Salt - 3/4 cup

Method:

Wash and slit the chillies lengthwise, make sure you don't completely cut them off from their stalks. Carefully make a very small slit in the small variety. Now soak it in the buttermilk mixed with salt and asafoetida. Allow it to marinate for 2 to 3 days.

Remove the chillies from the butter milk and dry it on a thick plastic sheet under the hot sun. Soak the chillies in the buttermilk again at night. Dry it again the next day and carry on with this process for 3-4 days. The chillies would turn pale and yellow as in the picture, by the time it gets dried well.

Store them in air tight containers. You can preserve it for almost a year.

Fry them in medium hot oil for a while till it turns dark brown and crisp.

Serve it with creamy curd rice. Yummy moar milagai is ready to eat :)

Stuffed Marinated Chillies / Stuffed Moar Milagai

Fat chillies are chosen to make such stuffed marinated chillies. Ramanathapuram is famous for this variety of chillies.

Ingredients:

Fat chillies - 1 kg
Fenugreek (Vandhayam) - 4 tsp
Cumin seeds (Jeeragam) - 5 tsp
Coriander seeds (Dhaniya) - 5 tsp
Asafoetida (Perungayam) - 4 tsp
Sour Curd - 1 cup
Salt - 3/4 cup

Method:

Wash and slit the fat chillies in the center to open it up like a pouch.

Coarsely grind fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, asafoetida and salt together without adding water.

Now fill in the ground ingredients into the slit made in the chillies.

Soak the filled chillies in the curd and allow it to marinate for 2 days. Remove the chillies from the curd and dry it on a thick plastic sheet under the hot sun. Soak the chillies in the curd again at night. Dry it again the next day and carry on with this process for 3-4 days. The chillies would turn pale and yellow by the time it gets dried well.

Store them in air tight containers. You can preserve it for almost a year.

Fry them in medium hot oil for a while till it turns dark brown and crisp. Serve with curd rice.

These stuffed chillies are slightly hotter than the other varieties. Meant for fiery ppl :)

Marinated chilly patties / Moar milagai vadai

This is pretty similar to the stuffed chillies but with a small difference in the method and a big difference in the taste :)

Ingredients:

Chillies - 1 kg
Urad dhall (Ulutham paruppu) - 1 cup
Fenugreek (Vandhayam) - 4 tsp
Cumin seeds (Jeeragam) - 5 tsp
Coriander seeds (Dhaniya) - 5 tsp
Asafoetida (Perungayam) - 4 tsp
Mustard seeds (Kadugu) - 3 tsp
Sour Curd - 1 cup
Salt - 3/4 cup

Method:

Soak the urad dhall in water for 2 hours and grind it into a coarse and thick paste adding just enough water.

Coarsely grind fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds, coriander seeds and asafoetida.

Grind the chillies and salt together into a coarse paste too without adding water.

Now mix the curd, urad dhall paste, coarsely ground seeds, mustard seeds and the chilly paste together into a thick mixture.

Now make small patties with the mixture on a thick plastic sheet and allow it to dry under the sun for few days until it is completely dry.

Store them in air tight containers. You can preserve it for almost a year.

Fry them in medium hot oil for a while till it turns dark brown and the mustard seeds in it starts crackling.

Make curd rice even more yummy with this accompaniment :)

Enjoy making. :) Happy eating :)

All credits and a big thanks goes to grandma for this lovely delicacy. :)

Written by: Nithya
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