THIRUVATHIRAI KOOTU/THALAGAM
A most common accompaniment to the rice and dal delicacy of Thiruvathirai Kali is this delicious delicacy of Thalagam or Thiruvathirai Kootu. As we all know Thiruvathirai festival falls on the Tamil month of Margazhi and is one of the important festival for Lord Shiva. This dish is loaded with as many as 7-9 vegetables and cooked carefully along with spices, coconut and seasonings. This goes very well with the Kali and tastes awesome when had in the banana leaves piping hot.
I still remember while growing up in Delhi where the temperature would drop as low as 3 degrees at this time of the year Amma would be up in the kitchen and making this early in the morning, even when we would be still in bed. After making the Kali and Kootu it would be laid before the GOD in the pooja room on a banana leaf. We would take bath in that cold weather early in the morning and be ready just to taste this tasty offering. Thinking of good old days is always a pleasure and brings back so many memories attached to food.I have tried to include as many vegetables as possible, but you can leave aside two or three if you want to.
| Prep Time | 10 minutes |
| Cook Time | 15 minutes |
| Servings |
persons
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- 2 cups Vegetables Ash Gourd, Pumpkin, Broad Beans , long Beans, Potato, peas, Chayote, Carrot, Peas and Raw Banana etc.
- A small Lemon Sized Ball tamarind
- To Taste salt
- 1/2 cup Cooked Tur Dal
- A Few curry leaves
- A Few Coriander Powder
- 3 tsp Tur Dal
- 1 tsp urad dal
- 3 tsp Coriander Seeds
- 1/2 tsp Fenugreek Seeds
- 1/4 cup Grated Coconut
- 2 number Green Chillies
- 2 number red chillies
- 1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
- 1 tsp Oil
- 1/2 tsp asafoetida
- 1 number Green Chilly
Ingredients
TO ROAST AND GRIND
TO TEMPER
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- Clean and chop the vegetables and keep them ready.
- Add the veggies in a pressure cooker and cook for just two whistles. Alternatively you can cook them directly on a pan with water,and required salt but make sure you don't overcook or mash them.
- Soak tamarind in hot water for 10 minutes.
- Extract the tamarind juice and add it to the vegetables.
- In a pan add tur dal, urad dal, coriander seeds and fenugreek seeds and roast till fine aroma is emitted.
- In the same pan dry roast grated coconut, green and red chillies.
- Transfer both the roasted ingredients to a blender once cooled.
- Grind to a coarse powder.
- Transfer the cooked vegetables to a pan.
- Add the ground powder now.
- Add the cooked tur dal now.
- Mix well and temper it wth mustard seeds, oil , green chilly and asafoetida and garnish with curry and coriander leaves.
- Serve it hot with Kali.
[recipe]
You can add a pinch of turmeric powder while cooking the vegetables to have a good colour.
Add more number of green or red chillies as per your taste.
Some people garnish grated coconut on top. You can do it, if you want to.
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