THIRUVATHIRA KALI

Ingredients:

Raw rice - 1 cup

Toordal - Handful

Coconut pieces - 3 tbsp

Jaggery - 2 cup

Cardamom powder - 1 tsp

Ghee - 1 tbsp

Water - 3 cup

Method:

Roast raw rice without oil until rice turns golden brown.

Cool and grind the rice into semi-coarse powder(like semolina).Rice powder would be around 2 cups

In a pan, boil 3 cups of water (in the ratio of 1 cup of rice powder : 1 1/2 cup of water), add 2 cups of rice powder. Mix well until all the water is absorbed.

Transfer and spread the cooked rice powder onto a plate and cool.

Half cook the toordal, drain and keep aside.

Melt the jaggery in wide pan(in the ratio of 1 cup rice powder : 1 cup jaggery). The jaggery should boil until it reaches soft ball stage.

Add the toordal, coconut pieces, cardamom powder and mix well.

Now add the cooked rice powder and mix well until all the jaggery solution has been absorbed into the powder.

Break any lumps formed and add ghee.

Serve with pulinkari and puzhukku.

Note:

For checking soft ball stage, add few drops of boiling jaggery solution into a bowl of cold water. If the jaggery dissolves immediately into water then boil the solution for few more mins. If the jaggery droplets in water can be turned into smooth and soft ball then stage is achieved. If ball turns into hard then solution has been boiled more than required.