Old is gold.

This is an excellant side dish (almost forgotten now !) for idli, dosai & puri.

Moong dhal - ½ cup

Potatoes - ½ kg

Onions - 3

Garlic - 3 pieces ( optional)

Salt, haldi

Lime juice - 2-3 tsp

Grind to a fine paste:

Coconut - ½ cup

Fried gram ( pottukadalai ) - 2 tbsp

Khus khus - 2 tsp

Garlic - 4 pieces

Green chillies - 6,7 ( to taste)

To temper:

Oil - 1 tbsp

Cinnamon - 1”

Cloves - 3

To garnish:

Chopped coriander leaves - 2 tbsp

Boil moong dhal in 2 cups of water, so that there will be some stock.

Boil potatoes, peel & crumble as for podimas.

Chop onions fine.

Heat oil, temper cinnamon & cloves & after they pop, add onions & fry.

When onions are frying, add chopped garlic.

When both are well fried, add the moong dhal stock, haldi & salt.

When this starts boiling, add the ground paste.

When the mixture boils, add potatoes & cooked dhal.

Simmer till everything blends well.

Remove, add lime juice & garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Tamarind - size of a medium orange

Methi seeds - 1 tsp

Red chillies - 10-12 ( or to taste)

Hing - 1 heaped tsp

Urad dhal - 1 tbsp

Whole black channa (small size) - ¼ cup – can substitute gram dhal

Mustard seeds - 2 tsp

Groundnuts - 2 tbsp ( optional)

Salt, haldi

Gingelly oil - 4 tbsp

To tamarind add 1 cup of warm water, take a thick extract & strain.

Soak dhals for 1 hr & drain completely.

Cut chillies into small pieces.

Lightly dry roast methi seeds & powder with hing.

Heat 2 tbsp oil in a heavy vessel, temper mustard seeds & red chillies first.

Then add dhals & fry till they become dry, add haldi, salt & tamarind extract.

Boil the mixture on a medium flame.

When the “ sauce consistency “ is reached, add methi-hing powder, mix & remove.

Heat the remaining oil, add groundnuts & add to the above.

If you add 4 tbsp oil in the beginning, the mixture will splash all over, when boiling.

So I always add half the oil, after removing from the flame.

When mixing with rice, add fresh curry leaves (raw) for a good flavour & some extra raw oil.

A little extra salt, if required may be added.

I usually crush the red chillies with hand when mixing with rice & throw away so that there may not be many red chillies to pick out, while serving – ofcourse, this, again is personal preference.

This amount is sufficient for ½ kg rice.

This can be used for sevai, rice sticks, aval etc.

Raw rice - 1 cup

Moong dhal - ¼ cup

Jaggery - 1 1/4 cup ( can be 1 1/2 cup, if you like it sweet)

Frehly grated coconut - ¾ cup

Ghee - 2 tbsp

Cardamom Powder - 1 tsp

Cashews, chopped - 2 tbsp

Wash & drain rice well.

Spread on a cloth to dry.

On a dry kadai, roast it on medium flame till the colour changes & becomes pink.

Cool & grind in the mixi ( need not be very fine-rava consistency is OK)

Soak moong dhal in boiling water for 1 hour.

Boil it till soft & drain the water.

Reserve the drained water, if any, for cooking the rice rava.

Measure the roasted rice rava – it will roughly be 1 cup

Take 2 ½ times the water (include the water drained from dhal), add jaggery & let boil.

Strain & boil the water again.

Smear 1 tbsp ghee on the rava & add to the boiling jaggery water with one hand, whisking the mixture with the other hand to prevent lump formation.

When the mixture starts boiling, it should be “ dosai mavu” consistency.

Add cooked dhal, grated coconut, mix well, close with a lid &lower the flame to the minimum.

Open after 10 mts, if a little more water is necessary, boil little & add.

When completely cooked, cover & leave for 10 mts for resting.

Then add cardamom powder & cashewnuts roasted in ghee.

Mix thoroughly.

The quantity of water varies with the quality of rice used.
Please go to
Thiruvadirai Kali-Step by step photos

Podithuval: (This is Kerala style – Thalakams & Ezukarikuzambu will follow in separate postings)

This is not made very dry, but thicker than kootu.

Vegetables traditionally used are kaavathu, avarakkai, yellow pumpkin, chenai, banana & siru kizangu.

Now, we also add mochai, sweet potato, chow chow etc

Vegetables are cut as for sambar.

Cut vegetables - 3 cups

Salt, haldi

Crush together: ( do not grind)

Grated coconut - 1 cup

Green chillies - 5,6

To temper:

Coconut oil - 2 tbsp

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Urad dhal - 2 tsp

Red chillies - 2,3

Curry leaves - few

Boil all vegetables with salt & haldi.

Sometimes kaavathu takes a little longer to become soft.
podithuval-1.jpg
Add the crushed paste & mix well.

It is customary to sprinkle 2,3 tsp of thiruvathirai kali powder !
podithuval-2.jpg
That acts as a thickening agent as well.

When everything has blended well, remove & temper.
podithuval-3.jpg

Kali with Ezukari & Podithuval:
10th Jan 09 006.jpg

This is a very traditional dish of the Southern Districts.& the savoury counterpart of SakkaraiPongal, made for Pongal.

This is made grainy like normal rice & not soft like Venpongal.

This can be made for naivedyam ( offering ) on Adi Tuesdays, Thai vellikizamai, Varalakshmi Vratam etc.

Rice - 1 cup

Moong dhal - ¼ cup ( tur dhal is also equally good)

Salt, very little haldi

To temper:

Oil + ghee - 2 tbsp

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Red chilli - 1

Coarsely powdered pepper-jeera mixture - 1 tsp

Hing - ½ tsp

Curry leaves - few

Roast the dhal ( whichever you use ) on a dry kadai till colour changes.

Lastly add rice also & roast lightly.

Wash & drain.

In a vessel or pressure pan, heat oil-ghee mixture & temper all the given ingredients.

Then add rice-dhal mixture & water.

If you use 2 cups to cook rice usually, now add 2 ½ ( or ¼ cup less if you prefer more grainy).

Add salt, haldi ( just a dash ) & cook as you cook rice.

Cool, open & top with a little gingelly oil ( or ghee, as your preference is ), while serving – it is customary to use gingelly oil.

Thalakam makes an excellent side dish for this.

This vadam is good for keerai, pulikootu etc as a topping along with tempering ingredients.

Can be eaten along with any rice also as a side dish.

Small onions - 1 kg ( peeled)

Urad dhal - 1 ½ cups

Grind fine:

Garlic - 10 pieces

Green chillies - 15 ( or to taste)

Hing - 3 tsp

Mustard seeds - 2 tbsp

Jeera - 2 tbsp

Salt

Curry leaves, chopped - few

Grind urad dhal as for vadai.

Mix all ingredients & make small balls.

Dry in the sun completely.

The next recipe is ideal for vengaya vathakuzambu.

Small onion - 1 kg ( peeled)

Salt

Red chillies - 15-20

Gram dhal - 1/3 cup

Yrad dhal - 1/3 cup

Methi seeds - 2 tbsp

Mustard seeds - 2 tbsp

Curry leaves, chopped

Grind onions, red chillies & salt, in the evening.

Mix all other ingredients.

Next morning, squeeze,(reserve the water), roll into balls & dry in the sun.

Evening put them back in the squeezed water ( the water has all the flavour).

Repeat the process till the vadam becomes completely dry.

The variety called “ new rice” is suitable for karuvadaam.

Raw rice - 4 cups

Sago - 100 gms ( ½ cup)

Green chillies - 50 gms ( can use up to 100gms)

Lime - 2

Salt

Clean, wash & drain rice.

Spread it on a clean cloth & dry.

Grind with sago to a fine powder in the flour mill.

Grind green chillies & ginger fine.

For every cup of ground flour, 2 cups of water are necessary.

In a big pressure cooker, measure water, close the cooker with the lid & put on flame.

When water boils well, steam will come out through the vent.

At once remove the cooker from flame.

Open, add lime juice & green chilli-salt paste.

Then add the flour gradually, mixing it well & thoroughly , without lump formation.

Close with the lid, put the weight & keep – no more putting on the flame.

Open after minimum 1 hr.

Knead very well – it should be a soft dough.

Press in the “ karuvadam nazi “ on a thick plastic sheet & dry thoroughly in the sun.

Variation:

Add very finely chopped onions after the dough is cooked.

Instead of grinding chillies, you can add finely chopped green chillies along with onions.

One can make the dough last thing at night & keep the cooker closed.

Morning, the dough will be ready & in that case lime juice is not necessary, since little sourness will develop on keeping overnight.

Nadan variety kadala is best suited for this.

Small brown kadala - 1 cup (soak in plenty of water with a pinch of soda overnight)

To grind:

Onions - 3 big, chopped

Soaked dhaniya - 2 tbsp

Red chillies - 5,6 (or to taste)

Tamarind - marble size

Grated coconut - 2 tbsp

Wash & pressurise the kadala directly in a pressure pan for 4-5 whistles till soft.

Cool & remove.

In the same pan, heat 1 tbsp coconut oil & fry the ground paste till the raw smell goes.

Add the cooked kadala, salt & correct amount of water to get the desired consistency.

Cook for one whistle.

Cool, open & add chopped coriander leaves.

It is optional to add 2 tbsp cooked kadala with the other grinding ingredients to get a thick gravy.

For this medium sour mangoes are the best.

If the skin is very thin, use with skin, otherwise, peel & cut into small cubes.

Chopped mangoes - 1 cup

Cooked tur dhal - ½ cup

Green chillies, chopped - 2 ( or more to taste)

Hing - ½ tsp

Salt, haldi

To temper:

Oil - 1 tsp

Mustard seeds - ½ tsp

Red chilli - 1

Curry leaves - few

Boil the mangoes with ½ cup of water, salt & haldi.

When cooked, add hing & cooked tur dhal.

Simmer everything together & remove.

Temper as given.

Now ready made " adas" are available with detailed instructions.

This is the method of making from scratch, the taste of which is unique, to say the least !

Raw rice ½ cup

Sugar 1 cup (for pal adai pradaman)

Sugar & jaggery Each ½ cup (for pradaman with coconut milk)

Coconut 1 big or 2 medium
(for coconut milk pradaman)

For both pradamans ada preparation is the same. You can do this by 2 methods.

First method:

Soak rice for 1 hr, strain very well & dry in a cloth for 2 hrs.

Powder in a mixi fine & sieve through a fine sieve.

To this add 2 tsp melted ghee, 2 tsp sugar & medium hot water to get the consistency of dosa batter.

Second method:

Soak rice for 1 hr, strain & grind very fine adding water little by little.

Add 2 tsp melted ghee & 1 tsp maida & make it to the consistency of dosa batter.

To make ada:

Take plantain leaves & cut to 6” squares roughly.

Show them on the gas for a few seconds to make them flexible.

First boil plenty of water in a big broad vessel like pressure cooker.

Take 2 tbsp batter & spread on the back side of the leaf.

Roll it & tie with strings on both ends & immediately drop in boiling water.

Do this till the whole batter is used up.

When they are well cooked they float on top.

(Alternately you can steam them 3 or 4 at a time in a steamer).

Remove, strain & scrape out the adas & wash in plenty of water 3 or 4 times

changing the water to remove the stickiness.

Chop fine.

Then proceed as you do for pal payasam using this ada instead of rice.
paladai pradhaman.jpg
For coc:milk pradaman, grate the coconut & take ¼ cup 1^st milk, 1/1/2 cup 2^nd milk & 2 cups 3^rd milk.

For thickening, add boiled and masjed moong dhal upto 1/3 cup.

Now add 3^rd milk , jaggery & sugar, chopped ada & boil on a medium flame for 10 mts.

Then add 2^nd milk & boil for 5mts.

Finally add the 3^rd milk & remove at once from the stove, stirring thoroughly.

Add 1 tsp cardamom powder.

You can add dry ginger powder – 1 tsp as well for this.
adapradaman.jpg

In South India it is traditionally made for Bhogi, Tamil New year, Ugadi, Avani avittam, Saraswathi puja etc.

Puran:

Gram dhal - 1 level cup

Jaggery - 1 cup + 1 tbsp

Cardamom powder - 1 tsp

Nutmeg powder - 1 tsp

Outer covering:

Maida - 1 heaped cup

Oil - 2 tbsp

Salt - a pinch

Saffron colour - a pinch

Water - to knead the dough

Mix maida , saffron colour & salt with oil & enough water to make a soft dough.

Make this into a ball & keep in a vessel.

Pour oil over it, to soak it completely.(This step, I now find gives extra soft poli.)

Keep it covered for 2-3 hrs.

Puran:

Wash & soak gram dhal in water for 1 hr.

Drain & boil in water to make it just soft.

Immediately drain in a colander.

To the hot dhal, add powdered jaggery & cook over medium heat.

Be careful that the bottom does not get burnt.

The correct consistency is reached when it gets thick & starts leaving the sides of the vessel.

Remove, cool & pass through a puran poli press or kitchen queen to remove lumps completely.

Add cardamom powder, nutmeg powder & mix well.

Now take the dough from oil & knead.

Make small round balls.

Take one ball & lightly roll it to a disc.

Keep puran ( twice the quantity of outer dough ) in the centre.

Bring all edges from around to the centre & cover to make a tight ball.

Roll, using rice folour to dust, to a chappathi about 6” in diameter.

Heat a flat tava.

Roast this on medium heat.

Flip it & roast the other side.

It will become golden coloured on both sides.

Remove & smear ghee.
Sugar can be substituted instead of jaggery in the same proportion.