Thiruvathirai kali recipe and Ezhukari Kootu

Thirivadirai is auspicious for Lord Shiva and falls in the month of Marghazhi. It is on the 8th of January this year(2012). Thiruvathirai kali and Ezhukari Kootu are prepared on this day. Today we will learn how to make Thiruvathirai kali and Ezhukari Kootu/thalagam following this easy recipe with step wise pictures.

Thiruvathirai Kali-Ezhukari Kootu

 Prep Time : 20 mins

Cook Time : 30 mins
Serves: 4
Recipe Category: Festival Recipes
Recipe Cuisine: South Indian
Author:

   Ingredients needed

   For Thiruvathirai kali

   Raw rice – 1 cup
   Jaggery – 1 1/2 cup heaped
   Grated coconut -3/4 cup loosely packed
   Ghee – 1/4 cup
   Cashew nuts – 5-6
   Cardamom – 1/4 tsp

   For Ezhukari Kootu

   Mixed vegetables* – 4 – 4 1/2 cups
   Field Beans (Mochai) – 1/4 cup
   Tur dal – 1/3 cup
   Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
   Tamarind – small gooseberry size ball
   Salt needed

   Fry and grind

   Coriander seeds – 1 1/2 tsp
   Bengal gram/kadalai paruppu – 1 1/2 tsp
   Red chilli – 5-6
   Raw Rice – 1/2 tsp
   Coconut (grated ) -1/4 cup

   For the seasoning

   Oil – 2 tsp
   Hing/asafoetida – a pinch
   Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
   Fenugreek seeds – 1/2 tsp
   Red chilli – 1
   Curry leaves – a sprig

   For Garnishing

   Coriander leaves – 2 tbsp finely chopped

Preparations For Kali


Dry roast rice on low heat in a pan/kadai till it turns light golden brown in color.

Dry grind the rice coarsely like rava. Keep it aside.


Heat 2 1/2 cups of water, dissolve jaggery in it and filter it to remove impurities.

Method


Take a pan/kadai, add the filtered jaggery water and bring it to boil.

When it start boiling, reduce the heat to low, add grated coconut and mix well.


Then add rice rava with one hand and stir continuously with your other hand to prevent formation of lumps.


Add 2 tsp of ghee, mix well and cook on low heat for a few seconds until it slightly thickens.

Transfer it to a vessel and pressure cook for 3 whistles.


Once the pressure subsides, open the cooker.


Heat remaining ghee in a pan and saute cashew nuts until golden brown. Add cardamom powder and the cashew nuts along with the ghee when the kali is hot.

Mix well and enjoy. Thiruvathirai kali is ready. Serve hot with Ezhukari Kootu/thalagam (recipe below).


Note – 1 1/2 cup jaggery was just perfect for my family, if you want more sweetness, increase the quantity of jaggery.

Ezhukari Kootu-Thalagam Recipe (Serves 4-5)


This kootu is called Ezhukari Kootu as it must have a minimum of 7 vegetables out of which mochai, pumpkin and ash gourd are very important for this kootu.

Preparation


Wash and cut all the vegetable into medium sized cubes.Vegetables* I used are Carrot,Broad beans (avarakkai), Pumpkin (parangikkai),Beans, Chow chow (chayote), Cluster beans (kothavarangai), Ashgourd (poosanikkai), Brinjal, Potato and also 1/4 cup of mochai (field beans).


Pressure cook dal with turmeric powder for 3 whistles or until soft. Keep the mochai also is a small cup and pressure cook with  a little salt along with dal as you see in the picture below.


Soak tamarind in warm water for 20 minutes, extract its juice and discard the pulp.


Heat a tsp of oil and fry coriander seeds, bengal gram (chana dal), raw rice and red chillies. When dal turns golden brown, add coconut and saute for a few more minutes.

Switch off the heat. Once it cools, grind it to a fine paste adding little water.

Cook both pumpkin and ash gourd separately in a little water until soft.

Par boil the rest of the vegetables with needed water and little salt. You can also pressure cook for 1 whistle. But slowly and steadily (be very careful) release the pressure after one whistle otherwise the vegetables will get overcooked. If you are new to using pressure cooker, I suggest that you par boil the vegetables in a pan, to be on the safer side.

Method


Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds, when it splutters, add fenugreek seeds, red chilli, hing and curry leaves.

Then add the par boiled vegetables (excluding pumpkin and ash gourd), salt needed and tamarind water. Cook on medium heat until the raw smell of the tamarind goes.


Then add the ground paste, cooked dal, cooked mochai, cooked ashgourd and pumpkin.


Add 1/2 cup of water and cook on low heat for 10 minutes until everything gets incorporated well. Stir in between to prevent dal from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Check for salt.


Turn off the heat and garnish with coriander leaves.(The consistency should neither be watery nor too thick).

Serve hot Ezhukari Kootu with kali.

Enjoy preparing kali and this healthy kootu for this Thiruvathirai.


Note – Due to requests from readers, this post has been updated with step wise pictures.

If you found this post useful, I would really love it if you pin it or share it with your Facebook fans or Twitter followers or Google+ circles today. All it takes is a simple click on the “pin it” “like,” “share,” “tweet,” or Google+ buttons below the post. It will keep me motivated. Thank you.

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