'A- Z' Tamil Nadu Recipe Series ~ A for Akkaravadisal / Akkara Adisal

 

Starting from this month, I am going to explore one of the flavorful cuisines from the southern parts of India, from Tamil Nadu to be exact. I grew up in a neighboring state and so, I am kind of familiar with and fond of the cuisine. I am doing a vegetarian recipe series in a 'A- Z' style and each month, three recipes from the region are going to be posted. Previously, I have covered two more southern states, mentioned below.

'A - Z' Andhra Recipe Series

'A - Z' Karnataka Vegetarian Recipe Series

'A' is the alphabet of the day and here are few 'A' dishes from the state. There is the popular breakfast combo, adai - avial which can also be served as a light dinner. Adai are the protein rich crepes made with rice - lentil batter while avial is vegetable based curry in a coconut base. Azhagar kovil dosai are dosa that are served as a prasadam to devotees in a Lord Vishnu Temple located near Madurai. Arisi upma is a spicy breakfast dish made with cream of rice. There is aadi koozh, a healthy porridge made in the month of aadi (around July). 

Here are ammini kozhukattai, steamed and tempered rice balls that make a guilt-free snack. A simple and quick one pot meal from Kongu nadu is arisi paruppu sadam that is prepared with rice and lentils. There is arachuvitta sambhar, a Tambram, lentil and vegetable based side dish made with toasted and ground spices. There is another gravy dish called arai puli kuzhambu. There are arakeerai and avarakkai, amaranth greens and broad beans respectively with which many side dishes are prepared to go with rice. There is aval aka flattened rice that is used to make many dishes such as upma, payasam, laddu, kozhukaatai, etc. Athirasam is a popular and deep fried sweet dish prepared with rice flour and jaggery. Arcot makkan peda is another sweet delicacy. (This is not an extensive list. I have mentioned those off the top of my head.)

And there is a festive dish called akkaravadisal or akkara adisal, with which I am starting this A- Z series. Akkaravadisal is a sweet rice pudding made as an offering to god during auspicious occasions at temples and homes across the state. Akkara means jaggery / sugar in Tamil while the second part vadisal refers to the cooking part, as cooking rice in this instance.

I have made this a few times before and coincidentally had again prepared it a few days back on Sankranthi day. An authentic Iyengar recipe, akkaravadisil sounds similar to sweet pongal or sakkari pongal at first glance. However akkaravadisal is more richer, creamier and delicious since the rice and moong dal mixture is cooked entirely in milk and oodles of ghee also goes into the preparation. 

Akkaravadisal can be prepared in a pressure cooker or in an instant pot, for a short-cut method. The rice, moong dal and milk can also be cooked together in a pot on stovetop until it reaches a creamy consistency. Using a non stick pan avoids the rice sticking to the bottom of the pan and burning. The mixture needs to be frequently stirred and the milk quantity needs to be adjusted as needed. Leaving a ladle in the pan prevents the milk from boiling over.

Using jaggery that is darker in color lends an inviting hue to the dish. Warm the jaggery with water until it melts and strain the mixture if it has impurities. Powdered jaggery can be directly added to the cooked rice at the end and mixed if the jaggery is clean. A portion of jaggery can be replaced by sugar. A large quantity of ghee is added traditionally but can be cut down to a minimum. The rice is cooked in full fat milk for a richer taste but again, it can be cooked in fat-free milk to cut down the calories. A pinch of edible camphor added at the end makes it absolutely divine.

 Akkara vadisal is on a thicker side and the mixture thickens while cooling down. Add milk accordingly. I took these images soon after cooking and it thickened to right consistency after cooling down.

Ingredients: (Yield 4 servings)

1/2 cup rice (I used sona masuri rice.)

2 tbsp. yellow moong dal

3/4 cup powdered jaggery

2 to 2.5 cups of milk

2 - 3 tbsp. ghee

2 tbsp. cashews

1/8 tsp. ground cardamom 

Directions:

* Boil about a cup milk on stove top or in a microwave and let it cool down.

1. Rinse and soak rice and moong dal in water for about 10 minutes and drain.

2. Meanwhile, heat jaggery and about 1/3 cup water in a pan until the jaggery melts. Let it cool a bit and strain the syrup if any impurities are present (I did not have to strain mine.)

3. Heat ghee in a pan and add cashews. Toast them on low flame, stirring continuously until they turn golden brown. (They burn quickly and so keep an eye). Transfer the toasted cashews onto a plate. 

4. To the same ghee pan, add the rice and moong dal mixture and sauté for couple of minutes, on low medium flame. Turn off the stove.

5. Transfer the mixture directly to small pressure cooker or a to steel container that fits into a pressure cooker. Add 1.5 cups milk to the rice mixture. Cook for 6 - 8 whistles and turn off the stove.

6 &7. When the valve pressure is gone, mash the rice-dal mixture well with the back of a ladle.

8. Add the melted jaggery, (boiled and cooled) milk as needed, ground cardamom, toasted cashews with the remaining ghee and mix well with a ladle.

* Serve it warm, as part of a festive meal or as a dessert. 

This is going to be my contribution to this week's Blogging marathon, with the theme 'A -Z Series'. Check the page link to see what other marathoners are cooking.

Comments

Temple Prasadams ~ Pillayarpatti Modakam

Tamilnadu is known for it's century old temples and I had a hunch that probably I could find a treasure trove of traditional temple recipes if I looked at in the right place. After a few searches on the web, I ended up on a page where I found a list of popular temples in the state and the food associated with them. Yesterday's Azhagar kovil dosa was on that list too though I found it before this search. There was a mention of Karpaga Vinayagar temple of Pillayarpatti on that list, which happens to be an ancient rock cut temple, near Karaikudi. The name of the town is derived from the word 'Pillayar', a Tamil word for Ganesha and obviously the presiding deity of the temple is Lord Ganesha.
This modakam / mothagam is made and distributed as prasadam in the Pillayar temple and when I looked for the recipe, I landed at Sharmi's Place. It sounded similar to Andhra's undrallu recipe albeit a sweeter version. I halved her recipe as there was no one else to share with me and got about nine modakam. They were subtly sweet and in spite of that they were so yummy that I ended up eating a few skipping my lunch. I went by my regular undrallu making method and ended up adding more water than the original recipe mentioned. However still mine were not looking that moist as in the original recipe and I am guessing it is because of the coarser rava I used. 

Ingredients: (Yield 9 modakam)
1/2 cup rice (uncooked) / rice rava
2 tbsp. yellow moong dal
6 - 8 tbsp. jaggery
2 tbsp. fresh shredded coconut
1 tbsp. ghee + extra for greasing

Method:
* Dry toast rice for a couple of minutes and set aside. This step can be skipped if using rice rava. Dry roast moong dal until it starts to turn golden brown. When both rice and moong dal are at room temperature, transfer them to a grinder and coarsely powder them, like rava. (I used the store bought rice rava and just coarsely ground the moong dal.)

* Heat a tsp. of ghee and lightly toast the rava mixture for a couple of minutes.
*  Dissolve jaggery in about 1&1/2 cups water and strain for any impurities. (I skip this step as the jaggery I buy usually is good.) Heat the jaggery water until it starts to boil.
* Lower the heat and add the rice-moong mixture in a slow flow, continuously stirring. 
 
 
* Cover and cook until the mixture looks almost done. Add the ghee, coconut and cardamom and stir for about a minute.
* Turn off the stove and let the mixture cool enough to handle.
 
* Grease your palm with ghee and shape the mixture into lime sized balls. Place them in a greased container.
 
* Steam them for about 10 minutes and serve warm.



This is my post under 'Traditional temple Recipes'. Check the blogging marathon page to see what my fellow marathoners are cooking for BM#52.

Comments

Temple Prasadams ~ Azhagar Kovil Dosai / Black Gram Dosa

I was stuck in the rut while planning for the theme of 'Traditional Temple Recipes' this week. As a south Indian, the popular rice based ones kept floating in front of my eyes whenever I thought about it and in fact I even cooked a rice dish. Then to break the monotony, I decided to explore the food cooked / offered in other states' temples than trying the ones I already know about. In the process, I got lucky and came across these Azhagar kovil dosai. Honestly I had never heard about dosas being distributed as a prasad anywhere and this one seemed interesting.
These flavorful dosas are served as prasadam in Azhagar kovil, a temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu, Azhagar refers to the Lord and kovil meaning temple in Tamil. This temple is situated a few kilometers away from Madurai, Tamilnadu. Going by the posts online, I don't think this is a well known dish among the non-locals. I read somewhere that devotees from surrounding areas offer rice and pulses to the temple which in turn are made into these delicious and filling dosas. 

The dosa batter is made with rice and whole black gram and it is flavored with spices before just making dosas. I am not new to the whole urad dal dosas but I was surprised to see how the ordinary dosas were elevated in the taste and flavor departments by the addition of a few spices. They were tasting like a soft version of temple vadas because of the urad dal and the spices. We loved it so much that I have already made it twice in the past two weeks.  
Traditionally these are made into thick, crisp dosas, generously toasting with ghee. One can of course add oil to cut calories but I would highly recommend trying these dosas with ghee. It adds a huge flavor factor, making these dosas stand out. I made some dosas thinner for my husband, who likes dosas that way and for me I made thicker ones. These are spicy and flavorful enough on their own that they do not need a side dish to go with. I noticed that a chutney masks the flavors of the dosa. However if you wish to serve the dosas with chutney, you can go ahead.


Ingredients to make a dozen dosas:
1 cup rice (I used extra long grain.)
1/2 cup whole black gram / Urad dal with husk
Salt to taste
1 tsp. ginger powder / dry ginger
2 tsp. black pepper corns
1 tsp. cumin seeds
1 stalk of curry leaves
Ghee / oil to toast dosas (I recommend ghee.)

Method:
* Wash and soak urad dal for about 8 hours in water, such that it is immersed well in water, through out the soaking period. Similarly wash and soak rice for about 4 hours. Or you can soak both rice and urad dal together for about 8 hours.
* Gently rub the urad dal with fingers and discard the husk if you prefer. I decided not to do so. Grind rice and urad dal together to a consistency, thicker than regular dosas. It is ok if the batter is ground slightly coarser. 
* Transfer the batter to a large container. Add salt to the batter and mix well.
* Allow it to ferment overnight or about 6 - 8 hours depending upon the weather.
 
* Grind ginger, black pepper, cumin seeds and curry leaves coarsely.
 
* Add the ground spice powder to the fermented batter and mix well.
* Heat an iron griddle or a shallow nonstick pan. Pour a ladle-ful of batter at the center of the griddle and spread lightly.
* Keep the dosa thicker than the regular version. Drizzle ghee and cook until both sides turn golden.
* Serve them hot.

Check the blogging marathon page to see what my fellow marathoners are cooking for BM#52.

Comments