Thiruvathira puzhukku is a very traditional Kerala dish made with root vegetables.
I have been neglecting the very malayalee side of mine in the past few posts so here is one of my close to heart dish for you and me to cherish some good old memories…
Do you know when this puzhukku is made.. if not read on to know more about our tradition which is practiced even today.
Thiruvathira is a very important centuries old Hindu festival celebrated by mostly Namboothiri and Nair women of Kerala as the birthday of Lord Shiva. It falls on the full moon day in the malayalam month of Dhanu ( Dec15 to Jan15) on Thiruvathira nakshatram (star). This year it is on Dec 18.
It is also believed that Goddess Parvathy met Lord Shiva after her long penance and Lord Shiva finally took her as his life partner on this day check here for more.
Unmarried women observe a partial fast on this day to get an ideal husband and married women take a fast the next day for the well being of their children.The first Thiruvathira for a newly wedded woman is known as Poothiruvathira.
The fast involves abstaining from rice based food. Nurukku Gothambu Kanji, dosa or upma is made along with the puzhukku and a dessert with arrowroot (koova veragiyathu) is served.
Women wear medicinal flowers dashapushpam (10 flowers) on their hair.This practice is called paathira poo choodal.
Thiruvathira kali( dance) is performed in the evening in real traditional homes with Thiruvathira pattu (songs) sung by women in the family.
For all who have asked me if I do Bollywood dance :))))) this is the only dance we perform Thiruvathira Kali (there would be a large brass oil lamp lit in the middle instead of the floral bed all the rest would look almost same) Be sure to check out the mansion with an inner court yard those types of homes are called Nalukettu.
It is very auspicious to visit Shiva temple during this day. Thiruvairanikulam Mahadev Temple is one of them which opens only for 12 days in a year from Thiruvathira day.
Over to the recipe:
For all those who do not have access to fresh veggies- ratalu (kaachil) and suran(chena) are available in the frozen section in most Indian stores.
I donot add turmeric, potato and yucca(kappa) to make this but if u like u can add that too. Garlic is never used for puzhukku made for Thiruvathira.
Ingredients:
Kaachil / Ratalu – 1 cup
Chena / Suran/ elephant yam – 1 cup
Koorka / Chinese potato – 1 cup
Chembu / Taro root – 1/2 cup
Sweet potato / Sharkara valli kizhangu – 1/2 cup
Van payar / Red chori / Red cow peas – 1/2 cup to 3/4 th cup
Kaya / Raw plantain – 1/2 of 1 large
Salt to taste
Curry leaves- few
Coconut oil – 1 tbsp
To grind: (Grind to a thick coarse paste)
Coconut -1 cup
Green chili- 1-2
Jeera – 1/4 tsp
Method :
1.Soak van payar overnight and pressure cook it until soft but not mashed.Keep aside.
2. Cut the tubes into large pieces and raw plantain into smaller piece.Pressure cook all of it for just 1 whistle adding just enough water and little salt.They should retain shape not mashed .(say 3/4 th cooked )
3.Now add the ground paste to the cooked vanpayar and roots mix gently once and cook on medium flame till the raw smell of jeera goes.By now almost all the water would have dried up and it should be semi dry dish.
4 .Switch off flame and add some curry leave (crush with ur fingers) and drizzle coconut oil level top keep closed until served.Serve warm with broken wheat porridge, broken wheat upma or wheat dosa.
These pictures are from last year’s yes, it is shaky,the steel is glaring, I had no idea how lighting was supposed to be then :)))
Hope u lovely people out there would give this recipe a try.
Meena
Sending this over to ‘My Legume Love Affair’ event hosted by Simona.
Adipoli Puzhukku, Fresh chena kitan illa, athu kondu try cheyunnilla.
last year's pictures!!! u must be kidding… 🙂 this is something so new to me and has all vegetables that i love, along with that cherupayar, yum… i could have all that paathram for myself!!! thank u for sharing the traditions, daily I learn something new… 🙂
Thank you Aara.
Sheyy angane parayale..Swathi 🙂
He hee…I know …so many things going on it is sometimes difficult to keep up..oh ulli theeyal yummm.
Thank you Rekha.
Thank you Smitha.:)
He hee..Cheru payar alla dear van payar ..
I know I too learn so much from u all too.Thank you Rafee.
Aa puzhukkum, pappadavum, acharum kandittu eniiku sahikkan vayya I am drooling…….
He hee..thank you dear.
Adipoli puzukku.yum yummy
perfect entyr for the event. have had ths once at “the thiruvathira” event at my friends place..but never have made it myself. very healthy and filling !!
Yummy and delicious puzhukku..Thanks for sharing,will try..
Nice to know about ur malyalee tradition 🙂 and this recipe is so unique Thanks for sharing 🙂
Ohh ! Thank you Meena enne kurachu samayatheku nattilekku kootti kondu poyathinu.
I should start on Kerala dishes too. I am certainly very impressed with this side dish, those ingredients for those awesome flavors.
Heee even I realized that I have not been doing much of kerala n thus made lulu theyal y'day 🙂 puzhukku looks delicious. It's been a while since I had this
very nice insight to your tradition and glad that people still follow the culture.I have few keralite neighbors and luv the enthu in which they celebrate festivals.
Delicious and healthy side dish… an interesting recipe to me..
Good to know about your Malayalam instincts ! That curry sounds great !
Yummy and love the traditional story of Kerala.
Ivide enikk kerala recipes koodippoya vishamamanu…Enikkum ella puzhukkum ishtamaanu …yeah..I am a typical Mallu…
Puzhukku is something which I don't like but is very much loved by my better half. Thiruvathira is the only time I make this, just for name sake. For the past two years I have been getting this on the day of Thiruvathira from my neighbour(so didn't take the pain of making it). It was nice reading through our traditions of Thiruvathira and a reminder to me that Thiruvathira is tomorrow;)
nice info about today's importance and traditional story. all the regions has so much to offer I believe if we just focus on indian menu, we never run out of recipes I guess. this looks so tempting, I love root vegetables so one more way to eat it.
Loved knowing more about Thiruvathira…Puzhukku looks real good.. ella virichu oru unne unnan thonnunnu…*sigh*
adipoli .. perfect post for thiruvathira
AAh puzhukkum… nalla ventha chorum.. pappadavum maathram mathi ennikku….i have heard about this a lot…..and also about this tradition.. but never happened to think of preparing it..
It's always great to about the customs and culture of other parts of India. Nice post.
This luks so gud….
i don't know how i missed this…look so yum and totally new for me..
delicious thiruvathirai curry!!!
Lovely post: thank you for the interesting cultural notes on the festival. Your dish contains a number of ingredients I have never tasted and you really made me want to try the result, which looks lovely. Thank you so much for contributing to MLLA. And Happy New Year!
Thank you so much Simona Happy New Year to u too.