Thiruvadhara Kali

HAPPY 2015!!!

2014 was a difficult year for me. Couldn't spend much time on my blog. Let me see whats in store in 2015.

I thought of starting this year with a sweet. Thiruvadhirai is around the corner and  brahmins in kerala / tamilnadu make this kali along with puzhuku ( a vegatble gravy). I find this combination very wierd - no idea who came up with this combination. I prefer to have puzhuku with rice and have this kali like a payasam. Over to the recipe

Ingredients 

Raw rice - 1 cup

Jaggery - 1 cup

Water - 4 cups

Ghee - 3 tablespoons

Cardamom powder - 1 teaspoon

Cashewnuts - 10

Coconut (grated) - 2 tablespoon

Method:

• In a pan dry roast the raw rice till it becomes reddish brown. Be careful not to get it burnt. Allow it to cool.
• In a heavy bottomed vessel (I used a uruli) add the jaggery and 1 cup water to it. Let the jaggery melt and then filter the impurity.
• Add the remaining 3 cups of jaggery and allow it to boil.
• Grind the roasted rice in a mixer into a rava consistency. Don’t grind it too much into a powder. It should be of semolina (rava) consistency.
• Add the grated coconut to the boiling jaggery. after a minute or 2 add the powdered rice and mix well. Add a spoon of ghee and keep stirring.
• Once all the water is absorbed by the rice, add another spoon of ghee and the cardamom powder. Mix well.
• Roast the cashewnuts in one teaspoon of ghee and garnish the kali with it.

Thiruvadhira Kali is ready!!!

Note:
The Kali can also be made in a pressure cooker.
The jaggery I use is the dark black colored which is very sweet. Hence I used 1:1 ratio. Generally 1.5:1 ratio of Jaggery:Rice is used.