Thiruvadhirai kali & ezhu thaan kootu

Kali is a mixture of rice and dal boiled with jaggery.Ezhu thaan kootu is a tangy spicy sauce made with a medley of 7 native indian vegetables. This is a complete whole some meal done as neivedhyam( offering to God) on Arudra Darisanam day/ Thiruvadhirai - a tamil festival dedicated to the dancing god - Nataraja.

Thiruvadirai Kali
Ingredients:
Rice ------------ 1 cup
Moong dal ----- ¼ cup
Coconut gratings: 4 tablespoons
Cardomam powder: 1 spoon
Jaggery : 1 ¼ cup

Ghee and cashew nuts for garnishing

Method:

Dry roast raw rice in a kadai till it turns light brown. Grind it coarsely like Rava.
Dry roast moong dal till it turns light brown and mix it with rice rava.
Make a jaggery syrup by adding the jaggery to 2 cups of boiling water. As it boils, add cardomam powder, grated coconut and roasted rice and dal. Mix them and pressure cook to 4 whistles.
When done garnish with cashew nuts roasted in ghee.



Ezhu than kootu:

This is made of 7 Vegetables generally native vegetables like yam, colocassia, potato, sweet-potato, raw plaintain, broad beans, garden beans, cluster beans. We can add carrot, French beans, peas ,capsicum and other vegetables of our choice also.

Mixed vegetables cut into 1” strips --- 3 cups
Tamarind --- lemon sized
Boiled and mashed toor dal --- 1 cup
Salt , turmeric and asafoetida for seasoning

Spices to dry roast and grind:
Red chillies --- 6 nos
Channa dal --- 2 spoons
Coriander seeds --- 2 spoons
Cumin ------- ½ spoon
Coconut gratings ---- ¼ cup

Boil the vegetables along with salt and turmeric. To this add the tamarind extract and boil till the raw smell of tamarind fades.

Now add the ground masala and boiled tuvar dal one after another.

When done,sprinkle with asafoetida powder , garnish with spluttered mustard and curry leaf.