Thiruvathirai Kali

Thiruvathirai Kali – a traditional sweet prepared with rice, moong dal, and jaggery on the auspicious Thiruvathirai day!

Check out how to make this delicious kali in the stove-top pressure cooker with detailed step-wise pictures.

I have been posting some festive lunch menus without any onion and garlic. You can find Amavasya special lunch, Aadi Perukku lunch, and Garuda Panchami lunch on my thali collection. Before posting the Thiruvathirai special thali, I wanted to share this traditional sweet – kali.

I have explained in detail about the Thiruvathirai function and why we make this sweet and sambar, the popular combo kali and kootu on this day in my Thiruvadirai sambar post. Please do check it out.

Now coming back to this Thiruvathirai kali, it is a distant cousin of sakkarai pongal. For this kali recipe, we roast both the rice and moong dal and also coarsely grind them. We don’t use milk as well. 

It’s hard to interpret these traditional Indian dishes in English. The kali is more like a thick pudding, but if you grind the rice and dal nicely, it will be more like halwa. Again halwa is translated as pudding. :-) 

Anyways, for this kali, we always grind the roasted rice and dal coarsely. 

The Thiruvathirai kali preparation is very straightforward-

✔  We first roast the rice and moong dal separately. Let it cool and grind them together coarsely.

✔ Then in the pressure pan/cooker, melt the jaggery and add the ground mixture and flavorings. 

✔ Pressure cook it and finally add some nuts and coconut roasted in ghee.

Before getting into the recipe, let me share some jaggery-based sweets from my archives.

South Indian Jaggery Based Desserts-

• Vella sadam | Jaggery rice
• Sweet pongal | Sakkarai pongal
• Vella aval | Sweet poha
• Moong dal kheer
• Deepavali ukkarai
• Instant Pot Hayagreeva 

Now let’s see how to make this Thiruvathirai Kali-

How to make Thiruvathirai kali in the pressure cooker-

• Heat 1 tsp of ghee in a pressure pan or a kadai. When the ghee melts, first roast the rice till it turns light golden brown and bulges. Take it from the pan and set it aside.
• In the same pan, add ½ tsp of ghee and add the moong dal and roast for a minute or two over medium-low or until you smell the aroma and it slightly changes color. 

• Allow it cool down and pulse it coarsely.

• Now add 3 cups of water to the pressure cooker or pan and 1.5 cups of powdered jaggery. Allow the jaggery to dissolve.

• Add the cardamom powder and mix well.
• Next, add the ground rice and dal mixture. Mix it and make sure there aren’t any lumps. 
• Close the pressure cooker and pressure cook for three whistles. Let the pressure subside naturally. Then open the cooker and mix the kali. The kali will thicken as it cools down.
• Meanwhile, heat a small pan and add the remaining 1.5 tsps of ghee. When the ghee is hot, add nuts of your choice and 2 tbsps of grated coconut. Roast until the coconut turns light brown.

• Add this mixture to the kali and serve warm.

Recipe Notes-

• Adjust the jaggery amount as per your taste. We like it sweet, I have added 1.5 cups of jaggery.
• I used powdered jaggery, and it did not have any impurities. If you feel your jaggery has impurities, please strain it as soon as it dissolves.
• Along with cardamom powder, you can add nutmeg powder or edible camphor. You can find the homemade cardamom powder recipe on my YouTube Channel.
• Instead of grated coconut, you can use finely chopped coconut as well. And use nuts of your choice. I went with slivered almonds.
• You can add up to 2 tbsps of ghee for this measure. But I went with approx 1 tbsp.
• I highly recommend raw rice for this recipe. 

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5 from 4 votes

Thiruvathirai Kali

Thiruvathirai Kali – a traditional sweet prepared with rice, moong dal, and jaggery on the auspicious Thiruvathirai day!

Prep Time5 mins

Cook Time40 mins

Total Time45 mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Tamil Nadu

Servings: 6

Calories: 343kcal

Author: Srividhya G

Equipment

• Pressure Cooker
• Saucepan or kadai

Ingredients

Measurement Details: 1 cup=240ml; 1 tbsp=15ml;1tsp=5ml;

• ▢ 3 tsp ghee divided
• ▢ ¾ cup raw rice I used sona masoori variety
• ▢ ¼ cup moong dal
• ▢ 1.5 cup jaggery powdered
• ▢ 3 cups of water
• ▢ ½ tsp cardamom powder
• ▢ 1 tbsp slivered almonds
• ▢ 2 tbsp coconut grated

Instructions

• Heat 1 tsp of ghee in a pressure pan or a kadai. When the ghee melts, first roast the rice till it turns light golden brown and bulges. Take it from the pan and set it aside.
• In the same pan, add ½ tsp of ghee and add the moong dal and roast for a minute or two over medium-low or until the aroma comes and slightly changes color.
• Allow it cool down and pulse it coarsely.
• Now add 3 cups of water to the pressure cooker or pan and 1.5 cups of powdered jaggery. Allow the jaggery to dissolve.
• Add the cardamom powder and mix well.
• Next, add the ground rice and dal mixture. Mix it and make sure there aren’t any lumps.
• Close the pressure cooker and pressure cook for three whistles. Let the pressure subside naturally. Then open the cooker and mix the kali. The kali will thicken as it cools down.
• Meanwhile, heat a small pan and add the remaining 1.5 tsps of ghee. When the ghee is hot, add nuts of your choice and 2 tbsps of grated coconut. Roast until the coconut turns light brown. Add this mixture to the kali and serve warm.

Notes

• Adjust the jaggery amount as per your taste. We like it sweet, I have added 1.5 cups of jaggery.
• I used powdered jaggery, and it did not have any impurities. If you feel your jaggery has impurities, please strain it as soon as it dissolves.
• Along with cardamom powder, you can add nutmeg powder or edible camphor. You can find the homemade cardamom powder recipe on my YouTube Channel.
• Instead of grated coconut, you can use finely chopped coconut as well. And use nuts of your choice. I went with slivered almonds.
• You can add up to 2 tbsps of ghee for this measure. But I went with approx 1 tbsp.
  I highly recommend raw rice for this recipe.

Nutrition

Calories: 343kcal | Carbohydrates: 72g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 6mg | Sodium: 8mg | Potassium: 75mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 51g | Calcium: 31mg | Iron: 1mg

I am not a nutritionist. The nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It varies depending upon the product types or brands.

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