Moru Milagai-Oven method

This Moru Milagai alias buttermilk chili is made by the oven drying method.

This spiced chili pepper recipe is best for the people, who live in cold countries or those who have rare sunshine days, and for the apartment lifestyle-were continuous 8-hour sunshine is highly impossible.

Moru milagai is a traditional South Indian condiment served along with food. Whether marriage or feast, this will be served after the sweet and papad.

Do you know it has also a specific place of serving? Authentically, food will be served in banana leaf, and the extreme left-hand side to be served with pickles, moru milagai and papad.

The oven Drying method is the same recipe but overcoming Grandma's process of the sun-drying method. Though we get bright sunshine days here, predicting them for continuous 3-4 days is impossible.

I have got chilies in batches from our friend's garden. After using them for cooking, I left with the huge pack. I processed them and stored them for the entire year.

Along with pickles, we always stock this moru milagai at home. Nowadays, I fry and stores in the ziplock bag for the entire week in the refrigerator.

More milagai tastes absolutely good along with  Tomato Rasam Rice. Have you checked another secret of making Onion Thalippu Vadagam in your oven?

Coming to this recipe, it can be made with any verity but tastes good with this round chilies. Buttermilk needs to get sour for this recipe. In the colder region, try storing mild hot humid places.

How to make Moru milagai

1. Wash and clean the chilies. Given them a gently slit, so that the seeds should stay intact. The slit should be in the middle, leaving the top and the bottom of the chili.

2. In a bowl, add sour buttermilk, salt, and these chilies. Soak them in the sour buttermilk for 3 days. By stirring them at least twice a day.

3. On the third day, it should turn pale and starts leaving chili aroma in the air. Line the baking tray with parchment paper. Take the chilies out from the buttermilk and keep the buttermilk aside. Spread Chilies in the tray. And bake it in the minimum temperature of 175° F for about 3 hours.

4. Once the chilies came to the room temperature, again drop them in the same buttermilk. And allow it to soak for another 12 hours.

5. Repeat the same process, take the chilies outspread them on the baking tray. Bake them for 3 hours at 175°F. Again soak in the same kept aside buttermilk.

6. Repeat again the same process for the third time. After the third time, the buttermilk should have minimized very much. Test fry them in the oil, if not satisfied with the moru milagai, repeat the process one more time.

Other condiments you may like,

• Indian lemon pickle
• Sriracha aioli sauce
• Roasted green tomato salsa
• Spicy mango sauce
• Banana pepper sauce
• Spicy condiments

Serving Suggestions:
Serve as a condiment like a pickle along with rice.

Tips and Variations moru milagai:
1. Each chili verity is different and each oven is different, so decide accordingly by keeping up with the basic concept.
2. Buttermilk needs to get moderately sour, remember to store them in the hot and humid place in the home(remember the temperature of the kitchen in Tamil Nadu).

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