Dried chillies
Mundu chillies (gundu milagai)
Capsicum annuum
Round, plump dried red chillies from Ramanathapuram, used whole in Tamil kuzhambu, sambar and tempering.
Also called: gundu milagai, gundu chilli, ramnad mundu, mundu milagai, round red chillies, round dried chillies
Around the world: குண்டு மிளகாய், முண்டு மிளகாய் (ta)
- Hot & numbing
- Fruity & sour
- Medium
Flavour and aroma
moderately hot, fruity, toasty when fried. Moderate heat, slightly fruity.
- Heat
- Medium
- Forms
- whole
How to use it
bloom in fat · Tadka (tempering) technique
Fry whole in hot oil with mustard seeds for 15–20 seconds, until they puff and darken slightly.
dry roast · Spice roasting (dry-roasting) technique
Roast over low heat for 2–3 minutes for kuzhambu and Chettinad masala powders.
- Tempering for sambar, rasam and kuzhambu
- Vatha kuzhambu and kara kuzhambu
- Chettinad masalas
Identifying good quality
Round, plump, glossy dark-red pods 1.5–2.5 cm across, thin-skinned and full of seeds.
- Not to be confused with Dried whole chillies: Most dried chillies are long; mundu are round.
Origin and history
Origin: Chillies came from the Americas; mundu is a round cultivar from Tamil Nadu.. Grown and used: Grown mainly around Ramanathapuram (Ramnad) and neighbouring districts of Tamil Nadu..
Round mundu (gundu) chillies are the usual whole chilli of Tamil tempering, puffing up in oil for sambar, kuzhambu and rasam. Ramnad mundu chilli is registered as a Geographical Indication.
Commonly told; not firmly documented
Recipes with mundu chillies (gundu milagai)
No recipes use it yet.