Aadi koozh vaarthal is a religious occasion for most Tamil house holds. In the month of Aadi raagi koozh is served to all thirsty people around the neighborhood. Koozh is prepared and offered to Amman followed by the distribution. While offering koozh there are also other heathly eatables included in the Padayal.
The koozh preparation starts a day earlier. Rice is cooked first and raagi flour mixed in water is added to it and cooked till ragi gives a glazed look to the koozh. This is then left over night to ferment. The next day water is added to the koozh to get a drinking consistency. To this we add finely chopped onions as topping and curd to give that cooling effect.
Once the koozh is all set we go about the padayal to the almighty Amman. Aadi, the Tamil month solely dedicated to Amman is for celebrating her and her kindness to her devotees. So we first offer the koozh to her in the Padayal followed by white rice and other items. The USP of Aadi koozh is that simplest of the food eaten by a commoner is offered to Amman.
Let's look at the various accompaniments of koozh..
Drumstick leaves makes an important side dish.
A lentil preparation of a water rich vegetable comes along in the form of kootu.
Then comes the kuzhamu which has all country side vegetables in tamarind sauce.
Next is a fried variety of a local veggie which would mostly be the humble raw banana.
Apart from these the kozhukattai - sweet dumplings and sweet rice made with jaggery, rice, milk and ghee makes it to the list. While praying we also have the maavilaku - lamp lite on a sweet rice flour lamp, paanagam - jaggery, lemon juice, elachi infused water.
After the prayer all the items are taken outside the house to be served to neighbors and passers by. People across religion, caste or creed accept the koozh with reverence and have it. This brings in harmony with the community we live in.
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