01
Kanji
Comfort
Kanji - a watery rice and moong dal porridge, eaten together with vanni and puzhuku as part of a traditional meal.
Red rice and moong dal cooked soft in the cooker, thinned with water, with salt and a spoon of ghee.
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AMMAMMA'S NOTES.
Broken red rice
1 cup
Moong dal
4 spoons
01
Fry the moong dal lightly.
02
Add the fried moong dal to the broken red rice.
03
Add plenty of water and cook in a pressure cooker.
04
Once cooked, make it watery.
05
Add salt and a spoon of ghee.
Vanni
Vegetables and raw mango cooked with turmeric, finished with ground coconut, curd, curry leaves and coconut oil.
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Puzhuku
Puzhuku - a horse gram and vegetable mash, rounding out the kanji and vanni meal.
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THE CLASSIC MEAL ON ONAM AND ALL SUNDAY SADHYAS. THATHA ONCE TOLD US AS WE WERE APPLAUDING HER FOR THE FOOD, THAT KANJI IS ACTUALLY A VERY NORMAL-PERSON FOOD, WHICH MAITHREE AND I REFUSED TO BELIEVE. KANJI, DRIZZLED WITH GHEE, WITH AMMAMMA BRINGING US HOT WATER FROM THE KITCHEN SO IT WOULD BURN OUR INSIDES SO PLEASANTLY, TOPPED WITH VANNI, PUZHUKU AND SOME THOGAYAL — A MEAL THAT ALWAYS FELT LIKE A WARM HUG.
YAMINI VENKATESAN
WHAT'S FOR LUNCH, 2026