Posts Tagged ‘Medicine’


Spice Garden: Milagu (Black Peppercorns)

By Admin - June 10th, 2014

Spice Garden: Milagu (Black Peppercorns)

Written By: Kayalvizhi J.

Welcome to Spice Garden! Love Tamil food? Me too. I’ve always been attracted to the aromas, fragrance and textures of spices, the way the flavours just blend and intertwine and the way we serve our food and by the repertoire of herbs and spices we use for healing. Our cooking is not only tasty, but beneficial for the body. The levels of obesity and disease in all communities is increasing, but we can prevent this by adopting more of our ancient healing into our cooking. Your grandma and mom have a good knowledge of home remedies and recipes made with a variety of herbs and spices to promote healing and maintain good health. And we, the younger Tamil youth should also become knowledgeable about these things, and this blog is an attempt to impart some knowledge about Tamil spices, herbs and recipes.

While I may be biased saying Tamil cuisine is the tastiest in the world, the world has also noticed. Tamil cooking has been praised all around the world, and Tamil cooking influences can be seen in other cuisines, and in the English language. For example, the English word ‘Curry’ is derived from the Tamil word, Kari, ‘Mango’ from Maangai, ‘Conjee’ from Kanji, Ginger from Inchiver. Tamil Sangam literature and epigraphs chiseled in walls of ancient Tamil temples have also recorded information about the benefits and preparations of Tamil herbs and spices.

Today we will be looking at the spice, milagu also known as yavanappiriyam (black peppercorns).

Quick Benefits:

– Digestion
– Aroma
– Appetite Stimulant
– Cough and Cold Fighter
– Constipation Fighter

If you’ve had Tamil food, it is likely it would have had some black pepper corns in it. Peppercorns are added to many savoury dishes, especially to meat and chicken. Black pepper helps in digestion and its aromatic flavour helps flavour in meat and poulty dishes while helping masking ‘meaty’ smells (especially when mixed with garlic). Pepper is ground when used in dishes. Pepper is also used in home medicine to treat coughs, colds, fevers, asthma and constipation. A mixture of salt and pepper with caraway leaves used as a gargle can help fight cough.

In many cultures, you may have notices certain soups are eaten as appetizers before means to increase appetite. In Tamil cuisine, rasam acts as the appetite stimulant and includes black peppercorns. Rasam can be consumed at different periods in a meal; eating rasam before meals is to induce appetite, while eating it after is to promote digestion. It is the pepper in the rasam that contributes to both these benefits.

So next time you are making a meat dish, try to sprinkle some peppercorns into it.



Health Care Career Seminar

By Admin - March 11th, 2010

Health Care Career Seminar

This event is for career-seeking individuals to hear from graduate students and well-established professionals in the health care sector. It will give individuals the opportunity to explore and enrich their knowledge on different academic programs and professions in health care.