Thiruvathirai Kali

 

Background

I have seen Amma preparing Kali only once in a year. On the occasion of Thiruvathirai.

It looks apparently simple, but needs lot of focus to get the right outcome. The most important outcome is the texture, though flavour and colour are not far behind. The process has to be enjoyed through all the five senses.

Ingredients and Proportions

Good quality white rice (not Basmati) – 1 cup

Jaggery – 1 cup

Moong Dal – 1 tbsp

Cardamom – 3 to 4 cloves

The proportions are important. Rice and Jaggery should be equal. Water to Jaggery is 2:1

Method

1)      Wash the rice and rinse it thoroughly

2)      Roast the rice in a tava till it becomes golden brown. Roast it on a low flame and enjoy the process. Keep stirring to ensure uniform browning. Do bend your face once in a while to take in the aroma of the roasting rice. It is fascinating to see the pearly white grains take on golden hues. The grains shrivel up as they get heated, and if you listen carefully you can hear a tinny sound as the rice beads collide against one another. After all the white has disappeared, switch off the heat and let it cool. Separately roast the Moong Dal and keep it aside. 

3)      Grind the roasted rice to a coarse powder. This is a very critical step. Amma says the ground rice should feel like rava. It took me less than 30 seconds in the mixer at the lowest speed. Take care not to grind it fine.

4)      Heat water in the tava and add all the jaggery when it starts boiling. Stir vigorously to let the jaggery dissolve and bring the syrup to boil.

5)      When the jaggery syrup starts bubbling, add the ground rice rapidly, while still stirring vigorously. Also add the roasted (not ground) Moong Dal. A remarkable phase transformation takes place instantly. The powdered rice soaks up the syrup like a sponge, puffs up and starts agglomerating. Switch off the flame. The final step shouldn’t take more than 30 seconds.

6)      Empty into a bowl and sprinkle crushed cardamom. The Kali is ready to be eaten lukewarm. It may appear to be lumpy, but if the lumps yield to the touch of your finger, than you have got it right.

 

Kali can be enjoyed by itself, but it is customary to eat it vegetable stew (puzhukku). I prepared the stew with flat beans (Avarakka), sweet potatoes and raw banana. The traditional stew for Thiruvathirai is Avarakka and Kavathu (purple yam).

 

Chemical Engineering Unit operations

Rinsing

Roasting

Grinding

Dissolution

Mixing

Agglomeration

 

Notes

1)      Amma’s Kali is not as dark as mine, most probably because I used organic jaggery. Amma uses rock jaggery (Katti Vellam)

2)   The colour and flavour are largely driven by the choice of jaggery. But texture, the most important outcome, is a result of ratio, time and temperature.