Friday, June 12, 2009

Azhagar Kovil Dosai

About Alagar Temple / Azhagar kovil: Azhagar means charming person. Here it represents a beautiful God Krishna. Azhagar Kovil (Alagar temple),is a temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu (aka., Lord Krishna) situated 21 km from the city of Madurai, which lies in the Tamil Nadu state of India.It is situated on a very beautiful hill with lush herbal forest. Specialities: Dosa: As Panchamirtham in Palani and Laddu in Tirupathi, in the Kallazhagar temple, Dosa is very famous. The grains donated to the temple are ground and made to dosas and offered to the visitors as prasadham (divine food) here. Noopura Ganga or Silambaru: This is a perennial river flowing from the feet of Rakkayee Amman from a cave in the temple. The theerthamn (holy water) from a spring inside the Temple is believed to run through so many rare herbs. So it is considered as a healing water for so many uncurable diseases. The lamp in the temple is kept burning for ever. Azhagar Kovil dosai: In the madapalli (the vegetarian kitchen to prepare offering for God), they prepare a crispy and unique dosa for offering to God and then distribute it to visitors. Actually they deep fry the dosai batter in ghee. But I have modified the preparation technique to suit our life style. I tasted this in my childhood while my chithappa (Gandhi chithi) worked there as temple EO.  Ingredients: Whole black gram (with skin) – 1 cup Raw rice (pacharisi/ unboiled rice) – 2 1/4 cups Fenugreek seeds – 1 tbsp Salt – 2 tsp whole Black pepper - 2 tbsp cumin seed - 1tsp curry leaf - 2 brig asafoetida - 1/8 tsp mixture of ghee 1 tsp + sesame oil 1 tbsp Batter preparation: Wash and soak rice separately for 8 hours or overnight. In another vessel wash and soak the urid dhal and fenugreek seeds together for about 8 hours. Grind dhal to coarse texture. Rice should be ground separately and finely. Don't add lot of water. The batter should be thick like softened butter. Add salt and mix the ground urad dhal with the rice mixture . Store this in a large vessel so that there is enough space for batter to rise. Grinding and storing of batter should be done the previous day, preferably in the night so that the batter would be ready the next day. The batter should be allowed to ferment for about 15 – 18 hours. I usually keep it inside the oven to get warmth. Home made Azhagar koil dosai: Grind the black pepper, cumin seed, curry leaf to a coarse powder.Just before we start preparing the dosa mix the asafoetida powder and the ground powder and mix well with the batter. Heat a dosa tawa (non stick or iron).Drizzle 2 drops of sesame oil+ghee over the pan. Using a clean cloth or wooden spatula rub the oil uniformly over the tawa. Take a ladle of batter and pour it gently over the tawa and do not spread it or press it.Reduce the flame to medium heat. Generously pour a 1/2 tsp oil+ghee around the dosa. You can add more ghee for kids:) Turn over the dosa when it starts getting mild red. cook both sides and take out the dosa . Again increase the flame, apply oil and repeat the above process to make more. Serving suggestions: This Azhagar koil dosai won't even need any side dish. But we can serve it with idly podi or butter or coconut chutney or idly sambar. Event: Sending these Azhagar kovil dosas to Divya Vikram's Show me your breakfast event. Note: Water should not be added the next day after it ferments. Dhal should be ground preferably in a grinder for at least 20 minutes and rice for 30 minutes. The batter can also be made using an "Indian Mixer". keep the remaining batter refrigerated.

36 comments:

Malar Gandhi said...

Aah, love these prasadhams.

Black gram is very healthy one for ladies.

Nice intro' about the temple, lved the part of healing water, interesting to know.

Write up is so great, and so does the breakfast!!!

Parita said...

hey grt post, thanks for sharing the info, dosai looks grt

Pavithra Elangovan said...

WOW as i am from madurai.. i know how it taste viki really i miss it so much such crispy and fried in ghee omg its heaven hah.. Ur adai really reminds me dear. Thats great intro you have given. Your intros for all recipes are awesome i appreciate it. Keep going....You can check my version of black gram adai in my blog.

ARUNA said...

yeah this is a very healthy dish i guess!!!

Subhie Arun said...

lovely presentation..and something new to me....

Gita Jaishankar said...

Great post dear...I always wanted to try Azhagar kovil dosai, nice info about the temple. Awesome clicks too :)

Home Cooked Oriya Food said...

I love your stories... So well written..
Amazing dosa and I liked how you have adapted it for our lifestyles..

kittymatti said...

wow! I was unaware of this all these years! thnx for this lovely post

Laavanya said...

We often visit Azhagar kovil and you are right, these dosais are special... thanks for the recipe :)

chef and her kitchen said...

Nice Adai....I like the flavor of Hing in this...Adds especially gr8 taste to it..

Nithya said...

Lovely explanation and origin details.. Nice dish. Mum makes it and I like it so much too.. you have a lovely blog. Keep it going. :)

Finla said...

I have never had this, actually it is the first time i hear about this.
Would love to taste them.

Pooja said...

Viki i have been to Alagar kovil and to the silambaru but i was not fortunate enough to taste the dosa..
i love the prasadhams served in the kovil.. they have a divine touch ! i remember seeing the sword(aruvaal) through a small peep hole.. You post unique recipes.. !

sangeeta said...

great post viki.....lots of touristy information.....the dosa is great too , i have tasted something like this in tribal jharkhand n they call it 'dhuska'(deep fried)...

Deepthi Shankar said...

nice dosai .. very new to me

Priya Suresh said...

Wow Viki, i had this black gram adai long back, brings me loads of beautiful moments...lovely intro...great dish!

Preety said...

wow there are so many kinds are dosas yours look like more healthier version

Vidya said...

first time here :) Dosa looks very yummy!

Unknown said...

Wow, what a healthy dosai...

Kalaivani said...

I heard about this but never got a chance to taste it.sure I'm going to try this.

Shama Nagarajan said...

lovely dosa dear.....nice read

Chitra said...

great post viki.never visitied that temple and had this prasadham..:(

suvi said...

that was a very interesting read! BTW, mailed you my entry for your event, hope you have received it.

Unknown said...

looks very nice...nice recipe..

gtyuk said...

useful information about the Azhagar Kovil and delicious dosai (noted the point with rad dhal with skin); thank you for the recipe dear!

Hari Chandana P said...

thanks for the recipe.. dosa looks great nice clicks :)

Unknown said...

Really I am very thank full to you long back means nearly 10 year s back I had this dosai still I remomber that taste from the time I tried a lo but i didn't get that taste will try your recipe thanks a lot for the recipe not only this dosai in the templi Lord Krishna and surroundings of the temple also just amazing isn't it.

Cynthia said...

Viki, thanks for visiting my blog.

Vibaas said...

Viki, we just went to this beautiful temple in december when i went to india. didn't have this dosai though..booohoo :( but, thanks for sharing the recipe :)

Raks said...

I wud love to taste that deep fried dosa prasadam! Looks very nice,and healthy too!

Mangala Bhat said...

Dosa looks great 1 Want to try this healthy recipe

Priyameena said...

Wonderful write up...I am totally home sick..

Unknown said...

That makes a great breakfast! Thanks for sending it to "Show Me your breakfast"Event!

Usha said...

Dosa sounds really yum and unique! Lovely and informative post :-)

Sandhya said...

I had been to Azhagar Koil recently and tasted this dosa. Looked for this dosa in the internet and came to your site! You have explained the recipe beautifully.

Thank you!

Subasree Badrinath said...

Hi, Thanks really for the wonderful recipe, tried it out today and really no words to express my contention!!! Simply superb!!!

Ulunthu kazhi

Ulunthu Kali is a highly energetic food, rich in protein and vitamins. This kaLi is given to girls who have reached puberty for nearly 16 da...