Thiruvathirai Kali is a famous Tamil Nadu recipe made on the auspicious occasion of the Thiruvathirai festival. Serve this delicious Thiruvatharai Kali with savory Mixed vegetable Stew to get the best taste.
Thiruvathirai kali is prepared during the month of Margazhi on the auspicious occasion of Thiruvadharai / Thiruvathirai (Aarudhra Darshanam). Thiruvadharai is a Shaivaite festival that celebrates lord Shiva in his cosmic dance posture (Lord Nataraja).
It is celebrated in a very grand manner in Chidambaram (the City of the famous Natarajar temple). This festival is mostly celebrated in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
Thiruvadharai kali is a very interesting recipe. This is one of the few sweet recipes that have a savory side dish to go with it (Called the Ezhu kari Kuzhumbu). This Kali is made with rice, which is a staple food for South India.
My mother's kali is the absolute best and it is very famous among our friends and family. My uncle whenever, whenever he travels from the US back to India, would always ask my mother to make it for him. I am lucky to have her recipe and I have made it quite a few times under her guidance.
Can we make Thiruvathirai Kali in Instant Pot?
I have forever been using my pressure cooker to make kali. For the past 2 years though, I have been making it in the Instant Pot, and got to say, it truly is a one-pot dish and fuss-free when made in an instant pot. I used the rice setting to make it and will update the recipe below.
Ingredients to make Thiruvathira Kali – (Serves 6-8)
- Rice – 2 cups
- Jaggery – 2 ½ cups
- Sugar – 4 tbsp
- Coconut – ¼ cup (grated)
- Cashew nuts – around 20 (Chopped)
- Ghee – 2 tbsp
- Cardamom powder - 1tsp
Procedure
- Fry rice till it is golden brown. Let it cool down completely and then grind it into a powder. It would be easier if this is done the night before, since it takes a while for the rice to cool down.
- Take around 4 ½ cups of water and add the jaggery and sugar to it. Keep it in medium flame and let the jaggery dissolve and let it come to a boil.
- At this stage add a tablespoon of ghee and grated coconut to it. Now add the ground rice powder, mix it well and transfer it to a pressure cooker. Let it cook until 4 whistles in the cooker and then turn off the flame.
- Once the pressure released, open the cooker, mix it up well, and check for doneness. Do not panic if the Thiruvatharai kali is watery, or if it is still slightly hard. Put it back again in the cooker and let it cook for a couple of more whistles.
- The Thiruvathirai kali would appear shiny and it would be in a rawa upma consistency when done.
- Add the remaining ghee to a small frying pan and fry the cashews in it to a golden brown. Add a teaspoon of cardamom powder to the ghee and pour it on the Thiruvadharai kali. Mix well.
Procedure to Make Thiruvathirai Kali in Instant Pot
- Making the rice powder is the same as above.
- Add the water and vellam / Jaggery in the instant pot in saute mode.
- Let the jaggery melt and bring the mixture to a boil. Add the ghee and coconut gratings and then added the roasted and ground rice rava. Mix it well.
- Close the instant pot and turn it off from the saute mode.
- Set on rice mode and once the cycle is done, let the pressure come down naturally.
- Open the pot and mix well.
- Serve the Thiruvatharai kali with Ezhukari kuzhambu!!!
More Festival recipes
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Recipe
Thiruvadharai Kali / Thiruvathirai Kali Recipe
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker
- Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 2 cups Rice
- 2 ½ cups Jaggery
- 4 tablespoon Sugar
- ¼ cup Coconut grated
- 20 Cashew nuts Chopped
- 2 tablespoon Ghee
- 1 teaspoon Cardamom powder
Instructions
- Fry rice till it is golden brown. Let it cool down completely and then grind it into a powder. It would be easier if this is done the night before, since it takes a while for the rice to cool down.
- Take around 4 ½ cups of water and add the jaggery and sugar to it. Keep it in medium flame and let the jaggery dissolve and let it come to a boil.
- At this stage add a tablespoon of ghee and grated coconut to it. Now add the ground rice powder, mix it well and transfer it to a pressure cooker. Let it cook until 4 whistles in the cooker and then turn off the flame.
- Once the pressure releases, open the cooker, mix it up well and check for doneness. Do not panic if the kali is watery, or if it is still slightly hard. Put it back again in the cooker and let it cook for couple of more whistles.
- The kali would appear shiny and it would be in a rawa upma consistency when done.
- Add the remaining ghee in a small frying pan and fry the cashews in it to golden brown. Add a teaspoon of cardamom powder to the ghee and pour it on the kali. Mix well.
Procedure to Make Thiruvathirai Kali in Instant Pot -
- Making the rice powder is the same as above.
- Add the water and vellam / Jageery in the instant pot in saute mode.
- Let the jaggery melt and bring the mixture to boil. Add the ghee and coconut gratings and then added the roasted and ground rice rava. Mix it well.
- Close the instant pot and turn it off from the saute mode.
- Set on rice mode and once the cycle is done, let the pressure come down naturally.
- Open the pot and mix well.
- Serve the Thiruvatharai kali with Ezhukari kuzhambu.
Priya S says
Thank you for sharing a simple method to make the Kali Sandhya, always wants to try this... Will do and post how it turned out 🙂
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
This works very well Priya. Do let me know! Happy Thiruvathirai!
Shwetha says
Hi, 2 doubts I have..
Do we need to make fine rice powder or coarse?
How long we need to keep it in instapot Rice mode(new instant pot user..so getting this doubt)?
Thank you
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
Hi Shwetha, you can make it like a coarse rava. I set it in rice mode and it was done. If you feel the kali is not done after it finishes cooking, mix the kali well and sprinkle some more water and you can cook for 5 more minutes in pressure cook mode. Hope this helps. Let me know how it turned out 🙂
Archana Potdar says
New to me. Looks good.
shasan18 says
Thanks Archana! One of our festival recipes prepared for Arudhra Darshan (Shiva).