Aadi perukku recipes - Lunch menu

Aadi perukku recipes, Aadi 18 lunch menu with full video and step by step instructions to prepare a spread.

🎉 About the festival

Today is Aadi 18 or as we call 18-aam peyar. Both mom and MIL celebrate this day. Aadi perukku (pathinettam perukku) is a religious (Hindu) Tamil monsoon festival.

As name indicates, in Tamil month Aadi (Tamil calender) aadi perukku falls on 18th day. In English calender usually overlaps in July or August.

Read my dad's post about the aadi perukku festival.

The whole Aadi month is always considered sacred, special and throughout the month, Goddess Shakti is worshipped.

Along with others, we soak rice and then stir with jaggery and offer it to the “manjal pillayar” and tie yellow thread in neck on the day of aadi perukku.

How to celebrate Aadi perukku

Here is how my mom, performs her pooja at the motta maadi (Terrace) in our home at Salem, assuming as the holy river bank Cauveri .

She brings manal (river sand) and makes a square out of it and keeps manjal pillayar ( Ganesh made out of turmeric powder).

Keep two vessels full of water with flowers in it, to depict water body.

Offers fruits, rice soaked and mixed with jaggery, a black glass bangle coupled with pink tainted dried palm leaf strip, a new saree with blouse bit, some jewels, mirror, flowers, etc... along with the holy yellow thread above.

Water bodies like river, lake, well, tanks and other sources are worshipped. Amman temples celebrate the month of aadi conduct special poojas and organize festivals.

When is Aadi perukku 2023 date?

Aadi perukku 2023 falls on 3rd August, Thursday.

🥘 Food

Mom makes variety rice for this always as today I have made, while MIL makes full meals with sambar, rasam, poriyal, kootu, vadai, payasam and appalam (probably her family preference). But widely kalanda sadam is the specialty of the day.

I wanted to make mom’s way this time. No need to panic by seeing so many dishes in the picture, its actually 5 items + medhu vadai. That’s it. Really! It's easier than making the full south Indian spread.

I want to share this time how I prepared this menu (for 3) also, to prove that this is easy! Prepare pulikaichal the before day, to make it easy.

📝 Recipe links

So here is what I made :

1. Sakkarai pongal recipe

Sakkarai pongal or any sweet can be prepared. A payasam with Jaggery, coconut milk based preferably. In the video, I have prepared kalkandu pongal. Here's the recipe for sweet pongal.

Sakkarai pongal recipe

5 from 13 votes

Sakkarai pongal recipe, a temple style flavourful sweet pongal with jaggery, edible camphor, cardamom, cloves and the essential ghee and cashew nuts.

40 minutes mins

2. Medhu vadai recipe

Can any festival menu pass without vadai in the menu? We mostly make medhu vadai/ ulundhu vadai. But paruppu vadai (masal vadai) can also be made. Check out the recipe for medhu vadai below.

Medhu vadai

5 from 42 votes

 Medhu vadai recipe – Ulunthu vadai – ulundu vadai- medu vada – with VIDEO and step by step pictures, tips and tricks to make perfect shape.

15 minutes mins

3. Coconut rice recipe

Coconut rice is easy and flavor packed kalanda sadam. Can be prepared in a jiffy if you are having grated ones in hand.

Thengai sadam recipe | Coconut rice

5 from 5 votes

Thengai sadam, coconut rice is a simple south Indian variety rice with a burst of flavors from fresh coconut and coconut oil.  Learn how to make thengai sadam with goodness of urad dal.

40 minutes mins

4. Puliyodharai recipe

Puli sadam or puliyodharai is a special kalanda sadam and best part in this lunch menu. To make it easy, prepare pulikaichal the previous day and you can just mix it on the day. Alternately, you can prepare lemon sadam in place of it (Another tangy variety)

Kovil puliyodharai Recipe

5 from 13 votes

Kovil puliyodharai, temple style tamarind rice recipe with full video and stepwise pictures. The spice powder added directly to the rice along with pulikachal makes it special.

40 minutes mins

5. Sesame rice recipe

Ellu sadam is a flavorful and healthy rice with roasted sesame seeds powdered and mixed. Check out the recipe here.

ellu sadam

5 from 4 votes

Learn how to make south Indian ellu sadam, sesame rice. Easy and flavorful, can make quickly and healthy too. With step by step picture.

15 minutes mins

6. Thayir sadam recipe

The perfect way to end the meal is curd rice. Creamy, cooling dish with homemade yogurt with tempering makes it flavor packed soulful dish.

Curd rice / Thayir sadam recipe

5 from 8 votes

Curd rice recipe - Learn how to make perfect creamy south Indian curd rice with step by step pictures and tips for delicious results!

20 minutes mins

👩‍🍳 Method

Serves: 3

1. Morning, on wake up, soak urad dal/ ulundhu for vadai and thengai sadam.
2. In a small cooker, (directly) cook 1 cup raw rice with 3 cups water for 4 whistles. This is for Curd rice and sweet-pongal.
3. In another stove, pressure cook raw rice 1 & ½ cups with 2 cups water for 3 whistles (in medium flame after 1st whistle) for the other variety rice. If you have separate containers, keep little moong dal for sakkarai-pongal. Otherwise, do it separately.
4. Grate coconut meanwhile.
5. Once the rice for yogurt rice and pongal, take half for yogurt rice in a vessel and leave the rest of the rice in the cooker itself.
6. Mash both and for curd rice add 120 ml hot water and salt.
7. Make jaggery syrup and prepare pongal.
8. If the rice for the other variety rice is done meanwhile, divide into 3 in three vessels and add 2 teaspoon of sesame oil in each, mix and let it cool down.
9. Now its time to give some work to the kadai. Heat it up and roast for ellu-sadam, thengai-sadam. Keep aside.
10. Now start tempering everything – first pongal, then curd rice, thengai-sadam, ellu-sadam.
11. Grind for ellu-sadam. That’s it, mix all the variety rice.
12. Lastly grind for vadai and heat oil in kadai for deep frying side by side.
13. Make vadai and fry appalam and some vadams. Aplam and vadams are not offered to saamis, just for the aasamis.

🎥 Video

I have video updated for this menu, with lemon sadam and kalkandu-pongal in place of puliyodharai and sakkarai-pongal respectively 🙂

This will take hardly 1 hour and less work as no cutting works involved. If you want you can make avial – if you are worried about vegetables.

Have a great weekend with homey food 😍.

Aadi perukku recipes

You can also make Payasam on the month of Aadi to mark it's beginning or for every Friday in this month. Check out aadi perukku payasam recipes below:

Please refer individual recipe links for full ingredients list and instructions.

Recipe card

Print Pin

5 from 7 votes

Aadi perukku recipes | Aadi 18 lunch menu

Aadi perukku recipes, Aadi 18 lunch menu with full video and step by step instructions to prepare a spread.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Indian, South Indian

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes minutes

Soaking time 2 hours hours

Total Time 3 hours hours

Servings 3

1x2x3x

Cup measurements

Ingredients

For Sakkarai pongal & curd rice

• 1 cup Raw rice
• Moong dal
• Jaggery
• 3 cups Water

For variety rice

• 1.5 cups Raw rice
• 2 Cups Water
• Coconut Grated
• Sesame seeds
• Curd

For vadai

• ½ cup Urad dal
• Oil for deep frying

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

• Morning, on wake up, soak urad dal/ ulundhu for vadai and thengai sadam.
• In a small cooker, (directly) cook 1 cup raw rice with 3 cups water for 4 whistles. This is for Curd rice and sakkarai pongal.
• In another stove, pressure cook raw rice 1 & ½ cups with 2 cups water for 3 whistles (in medium flame after 1st whistle) for the other variety rice.
• If you have separate containers, keep little moong dal for sakkarai pongal. Otherwise, cook separately.
• Grate coconut for coconut rice meanwhile.
• Once the 1 cup rice for curd rice and pongal, take half for curd rice in a vessel and leave the rest of the rice in the cooker itself.
• Mash both and for curd rice add ½ cup hot water and salt.
• Make jaggery syrup for pongal and prepare pongal.
• If the rice for the other variety rice is done meanwhile, divide into 3 in three vessels and add 2 teaspoon of sesame oil in each, mix and let it cool down.
• Now its time to give some work to the kadai. Heat it up and roast for ellu sadam, thengai sadam. Keep aside.
• Now start tempering everything – first pongal, then curd rice, coconut rice, ellu sadam.
• Grind for ellu sadam. That’s it, mix all the variety rice.
• Lastly grind for vadai and heat oil in kadai for deep frying side by side.
• Finally prepare vadai and serve hot.

Video

Notes

If you want you can make avial – if you are worried about vegetables.

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