Sradham / Divasam Samayal ( Thanjavur Tradition )

curd, rasam, morkuzhambu , Poricha kuzhambu

Picture  for reference

Sradham / Divasam Samayal : Thanjavur Tradition

Sradham is auspicious unlike funeral rites.  

     Cooking for Sradham,  should be done very clean and with fresh products.  One day before we can chop veggies,  Powder the Jaggery, Prepare for Curd and Ghee , Powder the Cardamom.  Apart from that , we are not supposed to do any other things like grinding , frying etc. For Raw banana, remove the skin and let it soak in water till we use it next day. We can’t use readymade store bought powders. Generally , we should buy all the ingredients including rice and wheat exclusively for Sradham preparation .  And any leftover cannot be consumed later by the persons , who are performing Sradham.
     Traditionally , Food will be cooked in Brass vessels / Pithalai Pathiram But, nowadays as it is almost impossible, we can cook in cooker and SS vessels and while serving food we can use Brass vessels.

     Sradham should be done in empty stomach and from morning we can’t eat any food apart from Coffee or Tea, that too before taking head bath. . Head bath is compulsory .

     Let’s have a look at the food we have to prepare and how it should be prepared.  As the number of items are more, I have no other option other than posting a very lengthy post.  Kindly bear  .

Veggies we can use are :

     Raw Banana, Yam ( Senai kizhangu ) , Snake gourd , Bitter gourd, Sweet Potato , Colocasia ( Sepankizhangu ) , Broad beans, Banana Stem, Curry leaves, Cucumber, Raw Mango, Citron ( Narthangai ) , Ginger .

Fruits We can use are :

Banana,  Mango, Jackfruit, Grapes, Apple , Pomegranate .  

Other Ingredients we can use are :

     Salt, Mustard,  Pepper, Black gram ( Urad dal ) , Green gram ( Moong dal ) , Rice, Wheat , Jaggery , Cardamom, Ghee , Milk, Curd , Honey , Tamarind , Black Sesame , Oil..

     Very Big Banana leaves for serving food as we can’t serve food in plates, along with Dhonnai ( cup made of leaf ).

Things that CANNOT be used are :

     Sugar, Nuts , Coconut, veggies like potato, tomato, onion, brinjal, drumstick, garlic, beans, carrot, peas, green chilly, red chilly, coriander leaves , Ash gourd, Pumpkin , Capsicum , Cabbage , Chowchow, karamani and any other English ( foreign ) veggies and turmeric, hing, coriander seeds, Red gram ( Tur dal ) , Bengal gram ( Channa dal ), parboiled rice , white sesame. 

Food Items that are to be served are :

1. Payatham Paruppu Payasam :  Payasam should be done only using Green gram dal , jaggery and cardamom.

2. Payatham Paruppu ( Kalathukku ) : Only Green gram dal with salt

3. Sweet Pachadi : Can use Raw mango or Citron with jaggery.

4. Curd Pachadi : Cucumber with salt

5. Three types of Curry and 2 types of Chips ( OR ) 2 types of veggies and 3 types of chips :  For Curry We can use Raw Banana ( Compulsory ), Broad beans / Bitter gourd / Snake gourd / Banana stem / Yam /  Colocasia / sweet potato .  For Chips we can use Raw Banana / Yam /  Bitter gourd . If you can't prepare 2 varieties of Chips atleast prepare one.  

6. Poricha Kuzhambu : We can use Broad Beans / Snake gourd /  Bitter gourd + Green gram + Pepper + Black gram

7. Mor Kuzhambu :  We can use Colocasia / Banana stem / Black gram mini bonda. + Ginger + Green gram + Curry leaves.

8. Rasam : Tamarind + Salt + Ginger + Cumin + Curry leaves
9. Wheat  Halwa : Can use Broken wheat or whole wheat.  wheat + jaggery + ghee + cardamom

10.  Adhirsam :  Rice + jaggery + cardamom

11.  Yellurundai :  Til ( yellu ) + jaggery + cardamom

12.  Payatha maavu Urundai : Green gram + jaggery + ghee.
[ As per my In-laws customs, we don't have the practice of preparing Payathamaa urundai. ]

13. Thirattupal : Milk + Jaggery

14. Thenkuzhal : Rice + Black gram + Cumin + oil.  [ As per my In-laws customs, we don't have the practice of preparing Thenkuzhal ]

15. Black gram Vadai : Black gram + pepper + ginger + curry leaves + salt

16. Pickle :  Ginger + raw mango+ salt.

17. Thogayal :  Curry leaves + tamarind + black gram + salt + ginger+jaggery+til.

18. Ghee : Preferably home made

19. Fruits :  Cut fruits + whole banana.

20. Rice :  Raw rice ( Pacharisi )

21. Honey : Nowadays homemade is not possible . Can use store bought.

22. Curd : Thick curd Prepared and stored separately .

Lets see how we can proceed.

     There is no hard and fast rule that we should proceed only in this order… but I have given for easy preparation, the method which I followed, solely prepared by me, without any help .  We can change the order according to the number of person we are cooking for and also depend upon the number of person we have,  to help us while cooking. 
      

1.    Soaking:   

·                    Soak Broken Wheat or Whole wheat for halwa. … for minimum 2 hrs

·                    Soak Black Gram for Vadai , some portion we can use for thenkuzhal ….  For minimum 2 hrs

·                   Rice  for Adhirsam , Thenkuzhal,…. can also use as a thickening agent in morkuzhambu,  poricha kootu if needed….. for minimum 1 hour. 

·                   Yellu  ( only black variety ) for Yellurundai …. For 1 hour.

·                   Tamarind for rasam for minimum 15 to 30 minutes.

·           Green gram dal for Morkuzhambu ….  For minimum 15 to 30 minutes .  

2.  Keep Full cream milk in heavy broad big pan for making thirattupal…..  Keep stirring frequently to avoid burning at the bottom.   When it comes to almost no water consistency like a mass , we can add Jaggery powder in the equal portion of the milk mass you get after cooking .  After adding jaggery powder , it will become watery again a little bit.  Let it cook for some more time, till all the water gets evaporated .   Add cardamom powder and remove from flame.  As we are adding jaggery powder directly , it’s better to use organic jaggery so that it will not have sand or dust.   Cooking of thirattupal should be done only in low flame.  So meanwhile, side by side , we can start making other dishes.  But make sure to keep an eye on thirattupal and stir frequently.

3.  In a cooker cook Green gram for Payasam, Kalathukku Paruppu, Poricha kuzhambu  and Rasam, just for a whistle.  It should be nicely cooked but not be overcooked.  Instead of cooking in cooker, we can also cook in open pan after soaking dal for half an hour.  

4. Dry fry Green gram dal for Payathamaa Urundai, till it changes its colour and nice aroma comes.  Keep it aside.

5. Dry fry Black gram + Pepper + Curry leaves for all the curries , morkuzhambu, poricha kuzhambu.

6. By this time , dry roasted green gram for payathamaa Urundai have come to room temperature.  Grind it very nicely as much as possible.  We can make balls , when ever we get time in between while cooking as we can make it anytime.  So lets do it later.

7. Grind dry roasted pepper + black gram + curry leaves,  coarsely which we are going to use it for curry and morkuzhambu…. Keep it aside.

8. Cook Raw banana with tamarind and salt. drain water . Temper with mustard and Urad dal ( black gram ) , curry leaves and saute with curry powder . 

9. . Cook all the chopped veggies for making Curry ( 2 or 3 curry ), veggie for poricha kuzhambu & morkuzhambu,  adding only salt and without water in a cooker .  Use  multiple vessel or separator for each veggies .  Cook for  2 whistles.   Can cook grated Raw mango also in the same cooker in separate vessel for sweet pachadi adding little water with it.   [  In the picture it’s Raw banana curry, Bitter gourd curry , Snake gourd curry,  Broad beans Poricha Kuzhambu,  Raw mango sweet Pachadi ]

10.  Prepare for thogayal.  In less oil fry black gram.. when it becomes golden brown add  curry leaves + ginger + tamarind,,,, saute for a minute and grind it coarsely adding salt, little jaggery, til and less water.   Thogayal is ready to serve and keep it aside.  [ In the picture , it is kept on the left hand side of Vadai ]

11.  Tempering :  In sufficient oil , temper with mustard and curry leaves .  We need this for all the types of curry, morkuzhambu,  poricha kuzhambu,  rasam  , curd pachadi.   Keep it aside.

12.  By this time., veggies for curry must have get cooked.   Take veggies ( 2 or 3 types ) individually and stir fry one by one. For Broad beans curry, add cooked green gram dal ( don't over cook )along with other ingredients while making. 
   In less oil , fry them,   just for a minute in high flame adding  curry powder ( dry roasted pepper+ black gram + curry leaves ) and tempering.  Keep it aside all the curry and they are ready to serve.

13.  Take cooked veggie we kept in cooker for porichakuzhambu and start making it.  Add cooked veggie + cooked Greengram dal + curry powder ( dry roasted pepper+ black gram + curry leaves )  and give a nice boil.  Remove from flame and add tempering with mustard and black gram .  Poricha kuzhambu is ready to serve. Keep it aside.  [ In the picture, it is kept in a glass bowl , just to mention about it…  it should not be served in glass bowl but directly while serving food]

14.  For Morkuzhambu……Grind soaked  green gram + ginger + (optionally add cumin seeds) into a paste.  Add Veggie+ paste + some water + rice flour ( if needed ) + salt and give a boil .  Add churned curd and turn off when it becomes warm .  Add tempering.  Morkuzhambu is ready to serve. [ In the Picture its chopped raw Banana Stem used for Morkuzhaambu and it is kept in a glass bowl , just to mention about it…  it should not be served in glass bowl but directly while serving food] ]

15.  Drain soaked rice nicely without water and spread it on a kitchen towel , let it dry for half an hour.

16.  Meanwhile,  grind for halwa.   Grind in wet grinder .Grind very nicely, the soaked wheat with sufficient water and extract milk …But, If you are using mixie you may have to do this atleast 3 times and strain them every time, to exact milk from it .  Total quantity of water you can use is 4 or  5 times the quantity of soaked wheat.  Store all the 3 extracted wheat milk together in a tall vessel, undisturbed for as much time as possible.  We can discard the leftover fiber we get after grinding. 

17.  Drain Sesame seeds and clean them nicely.  If possible, remove black skin.   If you crush them in your hands , skin may come off.   Drain it nicely.   Dry roast in a pan , till it pops and keep it separately.  We can use it for making Yellurundai and little bit for thogayal. 

18.  Grind Black gram dal  nicely without adding anything and keep some portion for thenkuzhal.   Then add nicely crushed pepper + curry leaves + salt . Keep it aside.  We can prepare vadai later.

19.  Take the rice , we have kept for drying in kitchen towel and grind it very very nicely as much as possible.  We can sieve frequently and keep the fine powder separately and grind remaining flour, till it becomes ground nicely.   [ keep the mixie in floor or in the position which is comfortable for you, as this process may take much time. ] .    First separate the finely sieved rice flour for Thenkuzhal , some portion for dusting( yellurundai ) and rest for Adhirsam as adhirsam shall be prepared in little bit coarse powder.

20. By this time Thirattupal should get ready to serve.  Keep it aside.

21.  Keep vessel for preparing Yellurundai  .  Dust some rice flour in a vessel and spread roasted sesame.  As and when Jaggery syrup is ready we have to pour over it and prepare yellurundai.   Keep some ghee near by for greasing your hands while making balls.

22.  Keep rice flour for making Adhirsam in a broad vessel adding cardamom powder . 

23. . Take some portion of cooked green gram and keep it ready to add jaggery syrup,  for making payasam. 

24.  Take cooked raw mango in a vessel and keep it ready to add jaggery syrup.

25. Now adding less water heat jaggery and filter it to remove sand.  ( you can skip this step, if you are using pure organic jaggery ).  Add some portion of the jaggery syrup with cooked green gram which we kept for payasam and some portion in cooked raw mango for sweet pachadi .   We can prepare payasam and sweet pachadi later.  

26.  Using same non-stick pan, prepare jaggery syrup for adhirsam , in low flame, till it reaches getti paagu.  When you pour few drops of jaggery syrup in a small cup of water , you should be able to gather it like a soft ball….  Pour the portion you need in the rice flour for adhirsam.  The consistency of adhirsam batter should be like idly maavu.  Keep it close. LLet it ferment for few mts. 

27.  Using same non-stick pan, prepare jaggery syrup for ellurundai, in low flame. 

Cook jaggery syrup till it become nice getti paagu.  If you pour few drops of syrup in a small cup of water , you should be able to form firm ball and immediately pour over the dry roasted Sesame and mix nicely with a ladle.  When it comes to the temperature you can handle, grease your hands and start shaping them into small balls.  You should do this quickly before it gets cool down..   Yellurundai is ready to serve and keep it aside.

28.  .  Prepare payasm . Boil cooked green gram + jaggery and cook till the raw smell of jaggery goes .  Add cardamom powder and remove from flame.  Payasam is ready .

29. Meanwhile, cook sweet raw mango pachadi.  Boil jaggery syrup + cooked raw mango and give a nice boil till raw smell goes.  Can add rice flour to get thick consistency in Sweet mango Pachadi.  Remove from flame and it is ready to serve. Keep it aside.

30.  Cook Plain Rice in the Brass Pot ( Vengala Paanai ) for Brahmna .  What ever the size of the Vengala paanai, rice should be cooked till the brim, means , Vengala paanai must be full. Choose the size of the pot accordingly. If extra needed, We can cook rice in pressure cooker, for rest of the family members. But for serving Brahmana as well for preparing rice balls for Sradham, rice should be cooked in Vengala paanai only.

31.  Now…. In the Wheat milk, , remove carefully only the top layer , which might have some white substance floating .keep it ready. 
.  Now in the same non-stick pan prepare jaggery syrup in low flame, .Till it becomes sticky ( one string ) syrup. 

At this stage add wheat milk gradually and stir continuously to avoid lumps …..  when it starts thickening , we have to start adding ghee gradually.  {Ratio for Broken wheat:  Jaggery : ghee is  1 : 2 : 1. . } .  Keep stirring frequently to avoid burning and also now and then keep adding ghee.  When the halwa becomes thick and starts leaving the sides of the vessel , add cardamom powder , mix nicely and pour on the greased plate.  Let it settle down.  We can make into pieces later.   Halwa preparation is over.

32. Start preparing Vadai.   In a hot oil,  fry the vadai 3 or 4 at a time .  When Vadai is getting ready , start slicing for chips  ( 2 or 3 variety )

33.  By the time you finish preparing Vadai,  sliced veggies are ready to deep fry for Chips.   Fry them separately.   [ In the picture it’s Raw Banana Chips and Yam Chips ]

34.  When the chips are getting ready, prepare for making  Thenkuzhal.   Grease the  inside of ‘Murukku Press’ so that the thenkuzhal dough will not stick to it.   Dough should be used immediately after preparing .  Mix rice flour , Black gram dal batter , salt , crushed cumin seeds and little hot oil [ ratio of rice flour : dal flour : oil is 1+ 1/2 cup : 1/4 cup : 2 tbsp ]…. When you are ready to prepare thenkuzhal,  mix thenkuzhal ingredients with less water .  Dough can be easily pliable.  Should not be stiff and should not be more sticky.  Keep the dough in the murukku press and press on the hot oil and deep fry them till it is fried nicely , without changing its colour in low flame.   We have to add water in the thenkuzhal mix only in  batches . Add water just before stuffing inside the murukku press.  If you prepare thenkuzhal dough early , then thenkuzhal will become dark very quickly , even before it gets fried nicely.   Finish preparing thenkuzhal and store it in air tight box , when it comes to room temperature.  It is ready to serve.

35.  Mix the  chopped veggie you have kept for Curd Pachadi with thick curd.  Add salt and tempering.  Mix nicely.  Curd pachadi is ready to serve. [ In the picture , it’s Cucumber Thayir Pachadi, kept in the glass bowl.  Actually we have to serve it directly on the leaf and should not use any bowl or cup]

36. Mix chopped Raw Mango + Chopped Ginger + Salt + Tempering…..  Pickle is ready. [ In the picture , it is kept on the left hand side of Vadai ]

37.  Now start preparing for Adhirsam.   By this time, adhirsam batter would have become little bit thick and will be able to easily pat them like Cutlet.   Pat them into medium thick using your palms and drop it , one at a time , in the medium hot oil.  Cook in low flame.  When it becomes golden brown , flip and cook on the other side too.  The second side will not take much time to cook.  Don’t fry them too much.  Remove and keep the adhirsam in a wide plate.  Repeat the process till you finish  whole portion.  Don’t keep fried adhirsam one over the other immediately as it may stick with each other.  Kindly go through Athirsam post, using link for more tips & details. 

38.  Mix Green gram flour, cardamom powder and Jaggery power ready. You may need the ratio of Green gram flour : Jaggery powder : ghee as  1 : 1 : ¾ .     Use pure organic jaggery as we are going to add it directly. Heat ghee , till it comes to smoking point and immediately pour over the mixture and immediately start making balls.   Payathamaa Urundai is ready to serve. 

39.  Finally prepare Rasam, as it should be hot, while serving.  But if needed we can reheat the Rasam later.   Boil tamarind juice extracted from the soaked tamarind adding salt.   Meanwhile, grind ginger + Cumin seeds and curry leaves to a nice paste.   When the raw smell of tamarind goes, add sufficient water and the ground paste and start boiling.  When it starts forming frothy, immediately remove from flame and don’t boil any more.  Add tempering. Cover with the lid immediately.  [ In the picture, it is kept in glass cup , just to mention the item… it should not be served in any cup but should be served while eating ,  on the right time ]

40.  Keep ready chopped fruits mixed with honey.  Keep ready, Unpeeled Banana.

41.  Keep ghee in dhonnai ready . [ In the picture , it is kept in small SS cup as Dhonnai is not made , which can be made out of Banana leaf ]

42.  Keep thick curd ready. [In the picture, it is kept in a glass bowl , just to mention about it…  it should not be served in glass bowl but directly while serving food]

43.  Keep drinking water, preferably hot water ready to serve.

     THAT’S  IT….  All the cooking is done and all the items are ready to serve. 

Now lets see, how it should be served. 

     Food should be served in well cleaned, 2 full , big , banana leaves .  It should be kept over lapping one over the other , leaving  only some top portion of the 2nd banana leaf visible , which is kept under ( bottom leaf ).  Refer Picture.  The top end of the leaves ( நுணி பாகம்  ) should come on the left hand side of the person, who is going to eat.   The Bottom end ( அடி பாகம்  ) of the leaf ( Broad end ) will be on the right side. Two Dhonai [ banana leaf cup ] should be kept , one for serving Ghee and  other which can be used as a mixing bowl. 

First give a glance  at the picture, to get an idea , … which item should be served in which place

After keeping water on the left side of the leaf ,  let’s see , the order in which we should serve the food ……

1.      Payasam

2.      Paruppu

3.      Sweet Pachadi

4.      Thayir Pachadi

5.      All Curry varieties

6.      Fruits

7.      Sweets , should be served in pair ( Halwa, Thirattupal, Yellurundai,  Payathamaa Urundai , Adhirsam) and Snacks , should be served in pair ( Vadai, chips , Thenkuzhal )

8.      Thogayal

9.      Pickle

    10. Ghee.

11. Rice should be served , when it is  asked to serve.

12. Then comes….  Poricha Kuzhambu

13. Morkuzhambu

14. Rasam

15. Curd.

Keep serving all the items again as and when needed.  Ellurundai  ( Til ladoo ) should be served only once.  We are not supposed to ask it for second serving. 

We generally have  to serve for 2 Brahmnas and one extra meal should be served as a Vishnu Yelai.  Let the Brahmnas eat very well .

After Brahmnas finished eating, they are gifted with Hand Fan, Mat, Pull over, Slippers, Umbrella , Pillow, pillow cover,  walking stick, silver panchapatra udhrini etc.   
The person whom we have invited for Vishnu Yelai can start eating and also all the other family members can start eating food.    Sradham food is only for family members and not for outsiders or friends.

Keep some leftover of Rice and Payasam in the vessel it is prepared.  We are not supposed to wash Rice and Payasam vessel the same day. 

For Dinner ….  The person who is performing Sradham can have fruits.

Note : Though Sradham samayal is done only during Sradham,  we can also prepare the dish using same recipe on normal days too,  Except Yellurundai.   For Yellurundai, we can add some other nuts / Khus khus instead of plain Sesame balls and prepare on normal days too.

Food Photography is not allowed on Sradham days.  The above food photo was taken on the trial day of making Sradham menu.   Please don't take pictures of food on Sradham. 

Some other info about Sradham : 

        Apart from Brahmnas, Vaadhyar ( prohit ) will be present for doing the necessary Sradham Cerimony .  We can serve coffee /Tea for Vaadhyar. 
       We should give Oil & Shigakai for head bath and  should provide Madi Veshti for Brahmnas.  Woman /Women who is/are performing should wear 9 Yards Saree and Man /Men should wear Pancha kachcham ( 5 yards dothi ) and it will be washed and hanged for drying separately , not along with day to day dresses .  

After finishing Sradham Cerimony, we can light Deepam in Pooja room.  Women Can keep Kumkum and can put Kolam ( rangoli ) at the entrance of the house. 

Nowadays, Pandit / Sasthigal brings all the items which are needed to perform HOMAM,  on Sradham day.

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