Kalikaputra-KOOZHU

[Guest guest]

Dear Kalikaputra,

 

I remember you asking for the recipe for Koozhu. I got it from my maid

servant, the nearest I could get to the authentic recipe. She gave me the

version for 20 people. I am abridging it for a small measure.

 

Ingredients –

 

Rice in a broken form – (Normal rice grains but are broken into half. it is

called noiyee in tamil) Group – any other names to this.( my maid says you

could put normal ric ein the mixie and give it just a whack or two. Too much

will make rice into a powder and you don’t want this to happen)

Raagi powder - It is called kezhvaraghu in tamil – brown coloured seeds

almost looks like mustard) .

Salt –to taste

 

Procedure : ( assume that you have to prepare this on a Sunday)

 

On Friday morning , soak ¼ kg of raagi powder in water and keep aside till

Saturday afternoon. It seems the more this gets soar(katta in hindi,

pulicchified in tamil), it tastes better.

 

Saturday evening , boil approx a liter of water and put the rice in.

meanwhile keep stirring the raagi powder now in water, to a consistent

solution. After the rice is cooked, put this femented raagi paste into

it.use medium flame. You need to keep stirring this, otherwise it could get

burnt at the bottom. ( There is some indigenous technology to check if the

raagi and rice are cooked. Wet your hands and slightly dip your finger in

the boiling solution( of course be careful not to hurt yourself. ) It the

raagi + rice sticks to your finger it is not yet cooked. Allow it to

continue. Then test again, if it doesn’t stick to your hands then it is

cooked. )put out the flame and keep aside till Sunday morning.

 

On Sunday – put this porridge in some other vessel , add water and

alt( added only now. Not when you cook.) and keep mixing it till it becomes

a consistent solution that is drinkable.

 

My maid was insisting that this koozhu is always offered to Goddess along

with

 

1. a mixed vegetable curry having either 3 vegetables ( potato+egg

plant(brinjal)+kaccha kela ( vAzaikAi in tamil)) or 5 vegetables (potato+egg

plant(brinjal)+kaccha kela+ white raajma( kidney beans- mocchakottai in

tamil) +green leaves( keerai in tamil)) . the no of vegetables has to be in

odd numbers and never even I presume.

2. A curry made of the leaves of drum stick( murungakaai) ,with ground

coconut.

 

Don’t know the authenticity of this practise. (The group may advise advanced

cooking techniques to the above recipe. )

 

May the Goddess take your naivedhyaa and bless you.

 

Gopi