Srardham(Thevasam) Recipes/Samayal

Though people are celebrating different festivals/events, they should remember the death ceremony of their ancestors and perform srardham to make their soul rest in peace. Nowadays in this fast world people are not able to perform srardham in a very traditional manner. Many people are now reaching out mutts(madam) and pay some amount to perform srardham. Still many families are following traditional manner in which they perform homam with the help of pandits(sasthrigal) and prepare thevasa samayal and provide them to atleast 4-5 pandits(Brahmanas). This will make our ancestors' soul happy and in-turn our family and next generation of our family will be blessed by them. In this post we will focus on Srardam recipes.

Things we need to prepare on the day prior to srardham:

We need to take 3-4 big plates(pithalai thambalam recommended), 1-2 small plates, 1-2 wooden slab(palagai or manai) (now a days even plastic plank are available) for the pandits to sit and perform the rituals. Clean all these and allow them to dry. Keep 1 bucket of sand in the place where we need to perform the homam. On the day of srardham, we need to wash our home. We can either cut all the vegetables that we need to cook on the day before the srardham or we can do it early in the morning on srardham day. We need to make the clothes soak in water and dry it completely a day before srardham so that people can wear those dry clothes on the day of srardham.

In many families, there will be 3 pandits and 1 vishnu leaf and therefore i have considered the ingredients that can be served for 6 people. Normally samyal(cooking) for srardham will vary for different people based on their family history. I would like to share the recipes for srardham as per my knowledge and what I followed in my home and this will vary from place to place and family to family.

List of vegetables/groceries that can be used to prepare samayal for srardham:

RawBanana(Vazhaikaai), Bitter gourd(Pakarkaai), Cluster beans(Kothavarangaai), Cucumber(Vellarikaai), Snake gourd(Pudalangaai), Raw Mango(Mangaai), Ginger(Inji), Colocasia(Sepangkizhangu), Elephant Yam(Senai), Banana, Mango(fruit), Pepper, Coconut, turmeric powder, moong dal.

List of vegetables/groceries that we should surely avoid:

Red Chilli, Thur dal, green chilli, Dhaniya

List of important dishes we need to prepare for srardham:

Payasam
Thayir Pachidi
Vazhaikaai curry
Kootu
Poritha kuzhambu/Moorkuzhambu
Rasam
Dhal for serving
Thyvayal
Inji-Maangaai Pickle
Patchanangal(Sweets & Savouries)

Things we need to prepare before starting the main samayal:

Take 1.5 coconut and grate it
Soak 1 tablespoon of raw rice in water for sometime
Grind the coconut and soaked raw rice in mixer to a nice paste and keep it aside
Take 2 cups of moong dal and dry fry in a heavy bottomed pan till it becomes light red color and we get a good aroma. Take ½ cup of roasted moongdal separately soak it in boiled water for 1 hour and cover it with a lid for sugian.
Cook the remaining fried moong dal in a cooker or directly in flame and smash it well and take it in a bowl and keep it aside
Take 1 handful of whole black pepper and grind it in a mixer to a nice powder without adding water.
In a pan, heat two teaspoon of oil and when the oil is hot, add 2 teaspoon of mustard seeds and when it starts to sputter add curry leaves and remove it from the flame and keep it aside. We will use this as a seasoned ingredient for kuzhambu, rasam and pachadis.
In a pan, heat two teaspoon of oil and when the oil is hot, add 2 teaspoon of mustard seeds and when it starts to sputter add curry leaves and 2 teaspoon of urdhal and remove it from the flame when the color of the dhal change to light brown color and keep it aside. We will use this as a seasoned ingredient for kootu, curry and thuvayal.

1) Payasam:

We can prepare Paal Payasam. We need to finely cook the two handful of raw rice and add 2litre milk to the cooked rice and stir continuously. When the milk boils and reduce to half of the quantity, add 1 cup of sugar to the milk mixture and allow the paal payasam to boil and them remove from flame.We can also add grated jaggery to cooked rice and when the mixture starts to boil, add milk and remove from flame. This is another method to prepare payasam.

2) Pachidi Varities:

Cucumber Thayir Pachidi:

Grate ½ or 1 cucumber(based on the size of the cucumber). Add grated cucumber to 1 cup of water and add a pinch of pepper and keep it in flame and allow it to cook till it started boiling. Strain the water and add the cooked grated cucumber to the ½ cup of curd and mix it well. Take one ladle of grinded coconut and mix the same with the curd. Add required salt and seasoned ingredient.

Mango Pachidi:

Take 1 small mango(or raw mango), peel the skin and chop it to big pieces and put it in a vessel and add little water to cook completely. Mango usually takes less time to cook. After the mango is cooked completely, smash it well Take 1 handful of grated jaggery and mix it with cooked mango and allow the mixture to boil. Now add 1 tablespoon of rice flour to little water, stir and mix it thoroughly to avoid lumps and add this to the boiling pachidi and when the mixture starts to boil again, remove it from flame. Add seasoned ingredients to it . Mango Pachidi is ready.

3) Poriyal(Curry) Varieties:

Raw Banana(Vazhaikaai) Curry:

Take 3 raw banana and chop it to big pieces. In a heavy bottomed pan, add required water for the chopped raw banana to be soaked completely and to it add ½ teaspoon of pepper powder, a pinch of turmeric powder and when the water starts to boil add the chopped raw banana and add required salt and mix it well. When the raw banana is cooked completely drain the water using strainer and keep the cooked raw banana aside. Add the seasoned ingredient (the one with urdhal) with the raw banana and mix it well and remove from flame.

Cluster Beans(Kothavarangaai) Curry:

Take 300gms of cluster beans and chop it finely and keep it aside. In a heavy bottomed pan, add required water for the cluster beans to be soaked completely and add ½ teaspoon of pepper powder and a pinch of turmeric powder and add the chopped cluster beans and mix it well. Allow the Cluster beans to cook completely. Strain excess water using strainer and keep the cooked cluster beans aside. Add the seasoned ingredient (the one with urdhal) with the cluster beans and mix it well. Add 2 teaspoon of grated coconut and mix it well and remove from flame.

4) Kootu Varieties:

Poritha Kootu:

Take 1 Cucumber or 1 Snake gourd or we can take both of them and chop it finely. Take water in a heavy bottomed pan and add ¼ teaspoon of turmeric powder and 1 teaspoon of pepper powder and when the water starts to boil, add chopped vegetables and allow it to cook. When the cucumber and snake gourd is cooked completely, add required salt and add 2 ladle of cooked and smashed moong dal and add 1 ladle of grounded coconut paste and mix it well with the cooked vegetables and allow it to boil. When the mixture starts to boil, add 1 teaspoon of grated jaggery and stir well. Add the seasoned ingredient (the one with urdhal) with the poritha kootu and mix it well and remove with the flame. Poritha kootu is ready.

Bittergourd(Pakarkaai) Puli Kootu:

Take 2 big bitter gourd and chop it finely. Take 1 small gooseberry size tamarind and soak it water for some time and extract the tamarind juice and keep it aside. In a heavy bottomed pan, add 2 teaspoon of oil and add the finely chopped bitter gourd and fry it till it becomes golden brown color. Add the tamarind juice to the fried bitter gourd and add a pinch of turmeric and 1 teaspoon of pepper powder and required salt and mix it well. To this add 2 ladle of cooked and smashed moong dal and 1 ladle of grounded coconut paste and mix it well. Allow the pakarkaai kootu to boil and add 1 teaspoon of grated jaggery and mix it well and remove from flame. Add the seasoned ingredient (the one with urdhal) with the pakarkaai puli kootu and mix it well and remove with the flame Bitter gourd kootu is ready.

Take 2 ladle of smashed cooked moong dal separately in a bowl for serving. Add little water to the remaining smashed dal and mix it well and keep it separately for rasam.

5) Kuzhambu:

Moorkuzhambu:

Take ½ cucumber and peel the skin and chop it to bigger pieces. In a pan or a vessel, add some water (for cooking the vegetable) and add 3 teaspoon of pepper powder and ¼ teaspoon of turmeric powder and chopped cucumber and allow the cucumber to cook completely. When the cucumber is cooked add 2 -3 cups of thick butter milk and add required salt and remaining grounded coconut paste(minimum two or three ladle). When the kuzhambu starts to boil, remove the moorkuzhambu from flame. Add the seasoned ingredient (the one without urdhal). Moorkuzhambu is ready.

6) Rasam :

Milagu Rasam:

Take 1 small lemon size tamarind and soak it in water for sometime. Extract the tamarind juice and keep it aside. Add the tamarind juice to a vessel along with 3 teaspoon of pepper powder and a pinch of turmeric powder and allow the rasam to boil. Add 1 ladle of cooked and smashed moong dal to the boiling rasam and add required water to the rasam and when the rasam is about to boil, remove from flame. Add a pinch of grated jaggery and add the seasoned ingredient (the one without urdhal). Milagu rasam is ready.

7) Thuvayal:

Take 1 handful of grated coconut and add 1 teaspoon of chopped ginger and 2 big pieces of peeled manago. Grind all these in a mixer along with required salt and 1 seesame seed ball(ellu urundai) and grind it to a nice paste. Add the seasoned ingredient (the one without urdhal). Thugayal is ready.

8) Savouries(Patchanangal) Varieties:

Ulundhu Vadai(Urdhal Doughnut):

Soak 2 cup of urdal & 2 teaspoon of raw rice (pacha arisi) in water for 30 mins. Strain the water after 30mins and add the urdal to mixer and grind it with salt, 1 teaspoon of chopped ginger and ½ teaspoon of pepper powder without adding water. Take the grounded flour in a bowl. Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan for frying the doughnuts. Take 1 small ball of flour and pat it in the palm and make a small hole in the centre and remove it from flame and drop it in the hot oil. Repeat the steps for 3 more doughnuts and fry the doughnuts in oil. When the doughnuts turn into golden brown color, remove from flame and add it to the bowl having a tissue to drain excess oil. Repeat the steps for the remaining dough. Urdhal doughnut is ready.

Appam:

Take cup of raw rice and soak it in water for 30mins. Strain the water after 30mins and grind it to a nice paste in a mixer without adding water. Add 1 cup of grated jaggery and 1 banana to the mixer and grind it along with the rice flour. Take the ground flour from the mixer in a bowl. Heat some oil in a heavy bottomed pan, and when the oils is hot, add 1 small ladle of ground flour to hot oil and allow it to fry on both sides and remove the fried appam from flame and place it in a bowl or plate over the tissue to remove excess oil. Appam is ready

Seasame seeds ball(Ellu Urundai):

Take 1 cup of ellu(seasame seeds) and soak it in water for 30 mins. Strain the water and add the ellu to heavy bottomed pan and fry it until the ellu starts to sputter. Take the ellu and keep it aside in a plate. Take 2 handful of grated jaggery and add it to heavy bottomed pan, and add water. When the jaggery syrup comes to thick consistency, add small drop of jaggery syrup in a cup of water, the jaggery syrup should form like a ball this is the correct consistency and remove the jaggery syrup from the flame. Add the jaggery syrup to the fried ellu and add 1 teaspoon of ghee and mix it well. Make small balls of ellu mixture and keep it in a plate. Ellu urundai is ready.

Senai(Elephant Yam)/Raw Banana(Vazhaikaai) Chips:

Take 100gms of senai or 1 raw banana. Peel the skin and slice it and keep it aside. In a heavy bottomed pan, add oil and when the oil is hot, add the sliced senai or raw banana and fry it until it becomes crisp. Take the fried senai or raw banana and place it in a tissue to remove excess oil. Repeat the above steps for the remaining slices. Now the Senai/Raw banana chips is ready.

Sugiyan:

Take 1 ladle of grounded rice flour we prepared for Appam(before mixing the jaggery) and 1 ladle of urdal flour we prepared for urdal doughnut and mix it well in a bowl. Add little water and mix it well. The mixture should be of bajji flour consistency. Add ½ teaspoon of salt to the mixture.

Take the soaked roasted moong dal we kept separately and drain the water and grind it in a mixer to a nice paste without adding water. Take the grounded flour in a bowl and keep aside. In a heavy bottomed pan, add some water and add ½ cup of grated jaggery and stir it continuously till the jaggery dissolves in water and becomes a thick consistency. Add the grounded flour and mix it well continuously until it becomes thick and non sticky in the pan. Now the puranam is ready.

Make small balls of puranam and soak it in rice, urdal flour and dip it properly to make all the 4 sides dipped in flour and add the puranam to hot oil and fry it till it becomes golden red color. Take the sugiyan out of the oil and keep it in a tissue paper to drain excess oil. Sugiyan is ready.

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