Mission Akkaravadeisal- Aadi Tiruvadipooram

With marriage people say life changes and priorities change. Well fact remains they are not wrong. A person like me who had hardly entered the world of kitchen can these days manage the basics of cooking comfortably with all ease. Of course the list goes one from Kareamdu, Koolambu, Mooru Koolamabu , Kootu, Kadaarrchi Paachadi etc etc. After all I am able to manage the tales of wedded life easily.



With all this came Aadi Tiruvadipooram, a very special occasion for the Tamilians and especially the Iyengar Sect, for on this day Aandal (Goda Devi) an incarnation of Bhoomi devi celebrates her TiruNaaksharam which falls on the pooram start in the month of Aadi.

This year it was on 12 Aug 2010, Thursday. Last year was quiet memorable as I managed to make a quick trip to Srivalliputtur, Janamastanam of Aandal and do the darshan.

Aandal takes a prime seat as one of the Aalwars and also being daughter of Peri Aalwar. She has sung Tirupavai a song of 30 hymns and Nachiyar Thirumozhi a song of 143 hymns in praise of the lord Sri Ranganatha.


Akkaravedisal is one of the many dishes that takes a lot of prominence in the history.
Aandal in her pursuit to marry Raangamanar,Prays to the lord at Thirumalirunjolai (near Madurai TamilNadu ) and promises to offer butter in 100 vessels and Akkaravadeisal (A sweet dish with mixture of rice and daal cooked in Milk with jaggery and ghee ) in 100 vessels to Lord of Thirumalirunjolai so the Lord may come in person and marry her.
On her marriage with the lord when she was unable to fulfill this promise, she seeks the help of Sri Ramanujar to help her fulfill this wish. Ramanujar fulfills this wish for her and she credits Ramanujar with title Anna ( elder brother). Even to this day Nooru Thade utsavam ( Koodar Vellam) is celebrated in all glory in Melukote.



Now that I have shared the historical significance on the dish and the day let me now share with you my days experience and recipe.
It being my first Tiruvaadipooram after marriage and me being a staunch follower of Aandal decided to make this special dish. After a hard days work at office I picked up ingredients on way back and made a special request to my aunt to let me use her kitchen. Thankfully my aunt let me experiment in her kitchen.

Thanks to google , I had managed to search various methods of preparation on the Internet while I also took help from mom and acquaintance's in Srivalliputtur to put together the recipe in its proper order.


To all the readers here goes the recipe
Akkaravadeisal- This is not Sakkarpongal or Kalebele Payasa as many get confused.

Preparation Time 2 hrs minimum ( Trust me, it took this long)
Quantity- Serves 6-8
Ingredients-
Rice- Washed and Drained-1/2 small Cup
Kadalebele/Kadale parapu/- 1/2 small Cup
Hesrubele/Paitham parapu / Green Gram- 1/2 small cup
Jaggery- 2 cups ( As per taste)
Ghee- 1/2 Cup
Milk- 1.5 lts
Cardamom Powder- 1 tbsp
Pachakarpoora- 1 small piece
Safforn/Kesari- 6 strands
Milkmaid - 6 spoons ( my version, optional)
Cashew- 10-12 finely cut
Almonds- 10-12 Finely cut
Raisins- 10-12


In a mixer coarse the raw kadlebele. Make sure the powder is coarse and not fine
Take a frying pan, add 2 tbsp of ghee and on Sim flame fry the coarse Kadlebele ,Heserubele and washed and drained rice till the rice turns golden brown. Make sure you do it in Sim flame so that you don't over fry.

Take a pressure cooker and added this fried mixture along with 1 lt of milk, mix well and 2 tbsp of ghee. Pressure cook it for 8-10 whistle ( This again would depend on the pressure cooker)
The mixture should be well mashed.
Now add 250 ml milk with Jaggery, milkmaid and keep stirring, add ghee, saffron, pachakarpoora, cardamom powder and stir well. Keep adding milk till the mixture is semi solid ( Neither too thick for a burfi nor too liquid for Payasam).
Garnish with fried Cashew, almonds and Raisins


Note : The dish should be in a semi solid state, add more milk to get the consistency or if the milk is more stir well so that the consistency is achieved.


Trust me it tasted real yum, and not to forget all those who tasted appreciated the akkaravadeisal and the maker ( That is your Truly Me) for all the good efforts and taste of course.

Thankfully my aunt was happy that I didn't ruin her kitchen at the end of the day. Even more importantly I was happy that my cooking skills have really developed and reached fairly decent heights in last 7 months. Kudos! With Pat on the back "Job Well Done".


In this whole process I learnt my lessons that nothing is Rocket Science except Rocket Science.

Happy Cooking and Keep Smiling.


P.S. Note of Thanks, My aunt for letting me use her kitchen, mom and aunt in srivalliputtur for helping me with putting the recipe in order. All my uncles and aunts for tasting it, Granny and mom for helping me understand the importance of the event and significance of dish and also helping me with some historical facts.

Please forgive me if any of the historical fact is misrepresented, I have just posted what I have heard from various sources and of course Internet. And million thanks to Google for being the best search tool!

Past and Present

Time just flies, the saying time and tide waits for none... must be true!

Its August now, mid year reviews are already complete on professional front and I thought it was time to do a self review on the year thats passed by and the year that is running.

Last year (2009) this time, dad was back home after series of hospitalizations and early this year he left us to destiny to manage our own lives.

This time last year, the groom hunt was in full swing, I married the love of my life early this year. Its irony I know, to lose my dad just weeks before the wedding. A fact too hard to accept till date.

2009 remarkably year marked the welcoming of my new car. Hoping yet another good surprise in 2010 ...( 4 more months for the next year to begin)

I blogged at an average of one blog a month, while 2010 had a compressed effect of one blog in months!

Met friends more often,movies were a sure hit with most first day first shows even for the big flops, while this year I have barely managed to watch 4...Bad thats very bad to score on!

Reading has been fairly consistent with average of 8 books an year and I am glad that I have managed to maintain with 8 closing in Early August.

Travel wise, 2009 had little to be explored while I managed with a decent bit 2010.

Skills acquired in 2009 were zilch except for polishing the writers nook, credits in 2010 seems good with cooking expertise and car driving taking the lead. 2010 also earned me an additional degree now thats the feather on the cap!

Farm ville and Facebook continues to occupy my space for prime time in both the years, while every time I login I recount my fathers words " Try accommodating me in your prime time".

UNO, was a family hit in 2009, Monopoly has taken the lead this year, amazing comeback after 10 years!

Father's day was memorable last year with my little nephew entering the world,this year it left me void without the presence of my appa.

Family outings and parties were abundant last year, this year the parties have been relatively low.

Exercise and workouts were prime focus in the past, while this year I cant recount any schedule. This now rings alarms with high priority notes flagged!

Shopping has been consistent with last year,while the kind of shopping has drastically changed.

Inflexible me in 2009, has now been shaped to flexible woman in 2010.

Tolerance and Patience which were in red last year have started turning to shades closer to green, maybe one can call them yellow!

Life's frequency has been quiet varied over the years.

Things have radically changed, priorities have so drastically shifted,time has just swept its boundaries, I have already become an year older, married over 7 months.

Wow. I am now amazed at the candid evaluation I have drawn from the year that passed and the year thats running, while I know its time to buckle up shoe on few activities.

Have fun, while I take the run!