Mrs.Mano's Tamilnadu Delicacies - Part 2

[Mrs.Mano]

Dear Sonu!

It is true that most people would not like to part away with their cooking secrets. Only a few people are willing to share their recipes with others.

Regarding mothakam, we must prepare the flout for it. Soak the raw rice for an hour, drain the water completely and dry the rice on a white cloth in the shade of our house. Do not dry them by using fan. When they are almost dried, pound the rice in to fine flour. Sieve the flour thrice. Then put it in a cloth, bring the corners to the center and tie it, steam the flour for 15 minutes. When cooled, spread the flour on the cloth, completely cool the flour and then again sieve it finely. Then you can store it in a jar. This flour is called as ‘idiyappa maavu’ or ‘pathappaduthtiya maavu. You can keep this for more than a year. In native place, for making this flour, people use ‘maavu arisi’ [IR20 raw rice]. This rice will give rich white colour and much softness to the palakarams. This flour is always used for making idiyappams, putt varieties, kozhukkattai and mothakams. If we make the kozhukkattai maavu in to a soft texture, the mothakams or kozhukkattai will become soft and glossy without any cracks.

MOTHAKAM:

Ingredients:

Kozhukkattai maavu-1 ½ cups
Salt-1/4 tsp
Oil- 1 ½ sp
Water- 1 ½ to 2 cups
Shredded coconut-1 cup
Mashed jaggery- 1 cup
Ghee- 1 tsp
Cardamom powder- 1 tsp

Procedure:

Prepare a ‘kambi paagu’ with the jaggery.
Add the coconut with the ghee and the cardamom powder.
Cook it until it is thickened.
Let it cool down.
Sieve the flour with salt.
Put it on a broad bowl and pour the oil.
Boil the water.
Pour it to the flour slowly mixing well all the way.
If the water is not sufficient, boil a little more water.
Knead it to a soft dough.
Make a small ball and flatten it thinly on a plantain leaf piece which is greased with gingelly oil.
Put a spoon of pooranam on it.
Bring all the corners to the center and press well in the center which will look like a ‘gopuram’.
There are so many moulds for making ‘mothakams’ nowadays.
Steam the mothakams for 10 minutes.
NB: there are so many varieties in ‘pooranams’. I have written here a simple one.

My blogs:

www.manoskitchen.blogspot.com
www.muthukuviyal.blogspot.com