Thursday, March 09, 2006

Kalyana Saapadu Podava?

Sodhi is the standard stew of every Tirunelveli Saiva Pillai wedding. Our weddings span over two days. On the second day, the lunch is organised by the Groom's family. Though the cook has been arranged already from the Bride's side, on the morning of the second day, right after breakfast, The Bride(since she is now part of The Other Family) & The Groom and The Groom's family, invite every single person of the Bride's family for "Their lunch"(they normally pay the Bride's father an amount for the lunch as is custom). And the menu hasn't changed in years. Not since I sat at my aunt's wedding as a 7 year old to my very own last year :)

Drumsticks - 2
Potatoes - 1/4kg
Carrots - 200 g
Beans - 200 g
Moong Dal, fried - 1/4 cup
Small onions - 6 or more if u wish
Garlic cloves - 10
Coconut - 1 ( grate it and extract 1 cup thick milk, 2 cups thin milk)
Lemon - 1
Ginger - 2"
Green chillies - 5 **
Turmeric powder
Salt


  • Boil the moong dal , green chillies, garlic cloves & small onions till they are soft enough to be squashed.
  • Half boil the vegetables earlier and add them to the dal/garlic mixture.
  • Once all the vegetables are cooked, add the 2 cups of thin coconut milk. Now this is called so as this milk is extracted the second n third time with the grated coconut using water. (Che! tough translating 'rendam paal, moonam paal' in Englipees ba)
  • Add salt and a pinch of turmeric powder
  • When the stew begins to boil, extract ginger juice and add it (Most often the juice hardly comes out, so just grate it finely and pop it all inside :p)
  • Keep stirring it so that it doesn't "adi-pidichify" [Translation is too much effort. Adjust maadi]
  • Once the stew has boiled for 2 mins, add the thick coconut milk. keep on stove for a minute and remove.
  • Squeeze the lemon over it. Make sure the stew is off teh stove and it has slightly cooled otherwise the coconut milk will go bad.

This is normally eaten with rice. Side dishes include a spicy Ginger chutney and Potato curry. It is the yummiest dish and anytime i visit my relatives they make this for me. Plus i get an extra glass of Sodhi to drink :) Yes, i am weird but then you haven't tasted Sodhi yet :D

Credits: The women of Nambia Pillai family :D

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16 comments:

  1. Meera6:36 AM EST

    adipidikarthu.. had a good laugh.
    I love thy writing!!

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  2. IBH9:42 AM EST

    so is Pillai family women also called as 'Aachis'?Whatever it is,I just love the food from Tirunelveli! yummmmm! have to try this recipe this weekend!

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  3. Kumari11:22 AM EST

    @Me: Thank you so much :)

    @Ibh: We do call our grandmoms ' Aachi' but No, all the women are not calles Aachis as in the Chettiar clan. Do try the recipe, it is yummy. I think Mallus make sth similar called 'Olan'. Hopefully I haven't missed any step :D

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  4. d3:17 PM EST

    inththa aLavu kaay poottu samaiththaal kalyaaNa pandhi parimaaralaamaa?

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  5. Ducking Giraffe12:18 AM EST

    k, me taking print out, will try this out on the coming holiday, will let you know :) and hey thanks! and also, keep them coming :)
    Gif

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  6. div_viv4:48 AM EST

    Karthik seems to have come up with an entire variation :D am sure it'll taste nowhere near your sodhi...
    Hmm, Olan, Sodhi, Stew... not much difference. Except no lemon or garlic in Olan. Even in stew we don't add lemon or garlic.
    One tip - thick coconut milk is best if added after the flame is turned off. Add dunno abt sodhi, but a little coconut oil added makes Olan yummy...
    Shud i have kept the tips for when (if) I start my cooking blog? ;)

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  7. Anonymous8:04 AM EST

    hi kumari
    am very happy to see our famous 'sodhi" in blogspot. me a pillaimar girl , am very fond of doing and eating "sodhi" thanks a lot for spreading our own delightfull receipe all over the tamilans

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  8. littlecow1:32 AM EST

    After my support for broccoli last time around, here's a simple/nice recipe in defence of the much misunderstood pavakkai (karella/bitter guard):

    !) slice into thin pieces first
    @) smear it with salt and chilly powder
    #) keep it aside for 15 minutes
    $) the pavakkai will become a bit watery
    %) squeeze all the water out so that the slices are dry
    ^) mix the slices with dry besan and chilly powder.
    &) fry in oil until brown (if it is too light of a shade of brown, it wont be crunchy...)

    Tried and tested. Tastes great!

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  9. Kumari10:03 AM EST

    @Piggy: Andha aLavu kaay is for 2 people :p SOdhi tharaLama vittu saapidanum. So it is imperative to make more. And it is not spicy.

    @Kamka: Daey, adhu sodhi illai. Vera ennavo.Annalum ipsi recycle/improvise panna koodathu :p

    @Gif: Did you try it out?Do lemme know how it fares with Gef :)

    @Divs: You can retype it again in your cooking blog :) But no, we don't add coconut oil and sodhi is famous for its garlic/lemon. We don't make it if these 2 aren't there :)

    @Anon: :)

    @LC: Hey thats a neat recipe. Will try it :)

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  10. Pasug10:37 AM EDT

    it is a good article
    also pls see my sodhi page at
    www.saivaneri.org/saiva-velalla-or-saiva-pillai-food-culture.htm

    thanks

    pkp

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  11. Anonymous1:35 PM EDT

    Good Job Kumari. Last year I searched web but I couldn't find this recipe, then my mom guided me throughout the process over the phone.

    I have all the ingredients ready, making Sodhi for Lunch today. I don't get to eat this menu much, except, if I get a chance to attend our marriages in my native, of course Thirunelveli.

    Do post more special foods from Thirunelveli, lemme get some training.

    And I have a questions, while I am thinking about thirunelveli...food...tradition and saiva pillaimaar etc.

    Is there any particular logic or reason behind serving veggie curries in that SPECIFIC order on a banana leaf. (I am not talking about the main course sambar, rasam, payasam and thayir sadam). Somebody let me know why the kaaikari is served in such paritcular order on the leaf.

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  12. Anonymous1:48 PM EDT

    Hey Kumari... you have said credits go to Woman of Nambiah pillai family 4 d Sodhi recipe, my Periamma is - but not sure if 'Nambiah Pillai' are the same. Don't tell me that is really my Kamalatthu periamma. Sounds crazy to you? just ignore. I thought of sharing cos I got remided of my Periappa Nambiah Pillai and Perimma made delicious Sodhi for me couple of years before.

    Sunny

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  13. Anonymous11:43 PM EDT

    Hi
    I am also from Tirunelveli. I am in the process of creating a website to share Tirunelveli recipes. I created the site a week before. I didn't know your blog existed at that time. I have published the same recipes as yours. Thats fine, because we belong to the same community, but I too have the same quotation by Bernard Shaw on my site! May be its true that great People think alike!

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  14. Anonymous5:56 PM EDT

    Thanks so much. I am going to try making Sodhi tomorrow. If it comes out good then credit to you. If it comes about bad ? hehe. :)

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  15. MOUNI5:54 AM EDT

    Sodhi never went down my throat.. but good tht u've promoted the traditional recipe.. keep it up..

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  16. Anshu5:37 AM EDT

    I was missing my amma that day and Googled sodhi for no specific reason and your blog came up in the results. It was refreshing to see someone post the recipe and talk about Sodhi which is pretty rare even in India. My roots are from Tirunelveli and food at home was heavily influenced by our traditions. But I live abroad now and it's hard to come by good south indian food anywhere in the world. Indian cuisine outside of India is mostly perceived only as curry or tikka masala and naan. It's sad that not many indian restaurants abroad include south indian food in their menu.

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