Saturday, 21 December 2013

THIRUVATHIRA KALI

Thiruvathira Kali is made out of rice, moongdal  and jaggery as main ingredients by Tamils along with thalagam or kavathu puzhukku. In Kerala, Koova kali is made  along with puzhukku.   Koova means arrow root.  this kali is served along with a vegetable viz. thalagam or puzhukku which is made out of 5 or 7 vegetables like Potato, sweet potato, yam, raw banana, avarakka (broad beans, papdi), carrot, pumpkin, colacasia, & Asiatic yam in English and Perumvalli Kizhangu in Tamil.

Thiruvathira is cleberated on full moon day in the month of Dhanu Masam as per Malayalam calendar and also as the birthday of Lord Shiva on the day of star Thiruvathira.  This festival is celeberated in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Ladies get up early morning, take bath, prepare the kali and kootu or thalagam and offer this as Neivedyam to the Lord. They visit the temple for ardra darshanam.  Girls and ladies enjoy the swings, a dance known as "Kai kotti Kali" is also  performed by ladies by certain  community in Kerala.





Let us look at the recipe now:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup coarsely ground rice powder
2 tbsp moong dal
1/2 cup jaggery (if you need more sweet, can add upto 3/4 cup)
1 1/2  - 2  cups water
1/4 tsp cardamom powder
2 tbsp fresh grated coconut
2 tsp ghee (clarified butter)
fried cashews (optional)


How to make the rice powder:

soak one cup rice in water for 1 hour.  wash drain and dry them in a cloth.  dry roast them in kadai little by little  till golden brown (one handful at a time) and keep aside. coarsely grind the rice in mixer and keep aside.  coarsely ground means it should be like the rava (semolina, suji).

Method:

In a kadai add little water and melt the jaggery.  remove the impurities, if any.  Add one and half cups to two cups   water and bring to boil.  coarsely grind the moongdal too.  Now add the moongdal and rice rava in the boiling jaggery syrup without forming lumps. stir well. cover and cook in low flame.  check whether it has cooked or not stirring in between.  Once it is cooked, add the ghee, cardamom powder,  fried cashews, coconut and serve with the puzhukku or thalakam.  alternatively,you can cook the same for 3-4 whistles in cooker.





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