New Delhi, Nov. 1 -- What does one write about a spice that sits quietly beside salt on every dining table? The salt and pepper shakers are such fixtures of the colonial dining setup that hardly any of us stop to ask why they belong on Indian tables today. The only time I find myself using the pepper shaker at the table is to sprinkle it over boiled eggs. In truth, we rarely add salt to Indian food at the table, and black pepper's real place is not in a shaker but in the kitchen, where it adds a complex heat to dishes.

Every time I rediscover a traditional dish from my Tamil heritage, I'm struck by its restraint. The economy of ingredients and process, and the surprising fullness of flavour in the end. One such dish is milagu kuzhambu, a...