Friday, August 13, 2010

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!

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