Thiruvathirai Kali

Kali is a slightly sweet dish that is made during the festive day of Thiruvaathirai - the day when Goddess Parvati supposedly reunited with God Shiva. Kali and a special sambar (composed of 5,7, or 11 different vegetables) are prepared on this day. These two dishes are simple and satisfying.

Ingredients for Kalli (serves 3)

1. 1 cup of uncooked white rice
2. 2.5 cups of water
3. 1.5 cups of jaggery or brown sugar
4. a tablespoon of grated coconut
5. a tablespoon/ladle of cooked thoor dhal (yellow lentils)
6. 1 teaspoon of cardamom powder
7. a pinch of saffron
8. 1 teaspoon of ghee (clarified butter)
9. a few cashews and raisins to garnish

Preparation

1. Dry roast the rice till it starts browning slightly with an orangish-pinkish hue. With a spatula, constantly keep stirring the rice around in the pan so that all the grains roast evenly. Transfer the roasted rice to a cool dish and allow it to cool completely.
2. Grind the cooled, roasted rice till its finely broken and almost smooth. It should feel like fine sooji (rava) to touch. So, essentially grind the rice until it's 80-90% smooth and powdery. Measure 1 cup of this ground rice to prepare the Kalli. Usually, the volume of whole rice is almost the same as the volume of ground rice.
3. Bring 2.5 cups of water to a boil. Add jaggery to the water and stir on medium heat until the jaggery is completely dissolved.
4. Add coconut, saffron and cooked dhal to the boiling jaggery water.
5. Now, slowly add the ground rice to the water, constantly stirring to ensure the rice dissolves without any lumps. Continue heating/cooking on medium heat until the rice thickens slightly and begins to bubble (about 5-10 minutes)
6. Cook/steam the rice until the Kali comes together (until the ground rice cooks completely and there is no water). One can either steam this by immersing the smaller vessel containing the kali into a bigger pot filled with a cup or two of water, or cook it in a pressure cooker for a couple of whistles. Steaming the kali would take 15-20 minutes on high heat. The cooked kali is crumbly, yet slightly moist - exactly like rava kesari.
7. Garnish the kali with cardamom powder, cashews and raisins roasted in ghee.(Alternatively, you can add the cardamom powder to the cooking rice too)

Kali (sans raisins and saffron) and sambar from last year. Sambar recipe is coming up...

Kali is mildly sweet, and is meant to be had with the spicy, multi-vegetable sambar. If you'd like to prepare this as a dessert, you may have to add an extra cup of jaggery/brown sugar. 

Thiruvathirai sambar (that's made to accompany Kali) is prepared in the exact same way as arachu vitta sambar, except we add at least 5 or 7 (or 9) different types of vegetables to the sambar. Sweet potato and carrots are commonly added to this sambar to bring a subtle sweetness. I very frequently make this kind of sambar because it is packed with vegetables and lentils, and is so flavorful!