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 days. Also this is prepared every month to strengthen the reproductive system of females and bones and muscles of everyone in the family. Urid dal helps in strengthening the bones too. So this has been in the diet of Tamil people since many generations.

This is recommended to prepare as breakfast. I love this kali very much. My mom used to prepare this for me and I remember how much efforts she would put in this preparation. When a girl attains maturity physically, it is a custom in my hometown to celebrate it like a festival of 16 days. All relatives would prepare some good foods for the family and would bring gifts. This is called seer (gifts). The girls understand the love poured by her relatives at that time. From that day, she would be treated like a woman and grown ups would teach her how to dress, how to act with some maturity, how to mingle with men and how to live safe.

Ulunthu kali and uncooked eggs , sesame oil are the staple for the young women at that stage. This is not just a food for young women, it is consumed by the whole family once or twice as breakfast every month as it is totally yummy and healthy. 

People used to dry roast and grind whole black urid dal into powder and store it in big eversilver containers. I have shown in this recipe how to make it without powdering. In fact, my version is much healthier as it involves soaking the urid.  It is a tradition to make this kali using palm jaggery, but I have used jaggery today.

Ingredients:

Whole Black gram - 1 cup
Methi - 1 tsp
Rice - 1/4 cup
Jaggery - 1 cup
Garlic - 1
Sesame oil  - 2 tbsp 

Sesame oil - 1 tsp per serving

Method:

Wash and soak black gram and Methi seeds together in water overnight (10 hours).

In the morning add 1/4 cup rice (any uncooked rice) to the urid dal and soak for 30 mins or more.
Grind the soaked black gram with methi seeds to a fine paste.
Heat 2 cups of water .

Add chopped garlic and let it cook for 5 mins.

Add jaggery and let it dissolve.
The add the urid dal paste, mix well.
After the black gram gets cooked , the raw smell will disappear it will start leaving the vessel like haalwa.
Then add 2 tbsp sesame oil and mix well.
Ulunthangali is ready.

Serving suggestions:
Garnish each serving with a tsp of Sesame  oil and Serve hot as breakfast.

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உளுந்தங்களி 

கருப்பு முழு உளுந்து  - 1 கப் 

வெந்தயம்  - 1 டீஸ்பூன் 

அரிசி  - 1/4 கப் 

வெல்லம் (துருவியது) - 1 கப் 

பூண்டு - 1

நல்லெண்ணெய்   - 2 டேபிள் ஸ்பூன்