Thiruvathirai Kali

Thick rice-jaggery festival porridge — raw rice dry-roasted in a heavy pan until it turns golden and nutty, then ground to a coarse powder, simmered with jaggery in water with coconut milk, cardamom, and a generous amount of ghee until it thickens to a glossy, pulling mass with a lightly sandy texture from the coarse-ground rice. Made for the Thiruvathirai festival in the Tamil month of Margazhi (December-January) and for Karthigai Deepam; eaten alongside kootu and in some traditions with karadaiyan nombu adai. The kali's caramelised-rice flavour deepened by jaggery and coconut milk is one of the most evocative tastes in Tamil Brahmin festival cooking — inseparable from the winter festival memory.