Thalagam recipe with medley of vegetables, fresh roasted ground spices and coconut. Learn how to make it with step by step images and video. This is also known as thalagam kuzhambu or thiruvathirai thalagam widely.
Thalagam is made during festivals like Thiruvathirai, Pongal and during Tamil month of Aadi along with manjal pongal. You can also make it on regular days.
Check out similar varutharacha kuzhambu and our home-style ezhu kari kootu recipe in this website.
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Thalagam is a Tirunelveli speciality dish, popular in that region in Tamil nadu. One can also call it thalagam kuzhambu. Every household have their own way of making and the recipe may vary. But as I browsed the recipe in other websites and watch Youtube videos, one thing I noticed was, thalagam recipe uses sesame seeds.
There are lots and lots of different recipes but I wanted to try this simple and minimal ingredients that is different from the regular spice paste we usually make. So I kept this thalagam recipe in such way it has main flavor from black sesame seeds.
I also wanted to use just naatu kaigarigal (country vegetables/ local produce) that we use for pongal kootu. But became lenient and used vegetables like drumstick, white pumpkin which we usually do not use on such occasions.
Even a pongal kuzhambu iyer style is similar to this. You can go through the Recipe, My notes, Tips and Variations to know what the differences are and decide how you want it.
Ingredients
Thalagam recipe ingredients:
- County vegetables – Local produce (nattu kaikari) – Yellow pumpkin, broad beans, elephant yam, seppan kizhangu (colocasia/ Taro), sweet potato, mochai (field beans or hyacinth beans), raw banana/ plantain, drumstick and white pumpkin.
- For spice paste – Coconut, black sesame seeds for maximum flavor, red chilli for spice, rice and toor dal for thickening.
- Tamarind – Used for giving taste as well as balancing the itching property of yams.
- Jaggery – for enhancing taste.
- Salt
See recipe card below for full list and quantities.
Instructions
I used ¼ cup dried mochai, so soaked it overnight and pressure cooked for 3 whistles in medium flame with salt and ½ cup water in a small pressure cooker. You can use fresh mochai too to make kuzhambu thalagam.
1. Firstly, gather all ingredients needed. Then soak tamarind in ½ cup hot water to begin with.
2. After that, let’s prepare the spice paste. Firstly dry roast sesame seeds until it pops and remove in a plate.
3. Then roast rice until it turns milky white, set aside.
4. After that, add 2 teaspoon of oil in the pan, add toor dal, red chillies and roast until dal turns golden in color.
5. Then add curry leaves and give it a roast.
6. Finally add coconut and roast until just dry, no need to wait until golden.
7. Remove in a plate for cooling.
8. Take a small pressure cooker, add hard vegetables which takes longer to cook in bottom. Drumstick, yam etc. Then top it off with all other vegetables gradually.
9. After that, extract tamarind juice.
10. Strain the pulp and add to it (1 cup total).
11. Close the lid and pressure cook for just 2 whistles in high flame.
12. Once done, I transferred to another vessel as my cooker was too small. Do not stir, just add turmeric, 1 more cup water, salt and jaggery
13. Grind the spices we roasted with ¼ cup (or as needed) water.
14. Pour it to the cooked vegetables and add 1 & ¼ cup more water washing off the mixie. Gently give it a mix.
15. Once it boils mix each minute (3-4 minutes).
16. Once homogenous, switch off the stove.
17. Heat a small pan with coconut oil and splutter mustard.
18. Finally add it to the thalagam and it’s ready!
Serve thalagam with Thiruvathirai kali or as pongal kuzhambu, or with cooked rice on regular days.
Hint: I used my 1.5 liter pressure cooker and brass kadai to make this thiruvathirai thalagam, which are linked in the recipe card.
Substitutions & Variations
- Sesame seeds – Highlight of the recipe which gives the unique flavor to the thalagam. But you can omit it and use 1 tablespoon coriander seeds,¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds & ¼ teaspoon asafoetida.
- Elephant yam– use pidi karunai kizhangu instead of senai kizhangu. You can also use siru kizhangu (Chinese yam/koorka) too.
- Mochai – I used dried mocha kottai, but you can use fresh ones if you get in season. Eitherway, suggest to pre-cook with salt prior using in the recipe.
The recipe is naturally vegan and gluten free.
As I said earlier, there are numerous way to make thalagam. Here are few more suggestions
- Spicy – add ½ teaspoon black pepper in the spice paste.
- Number of vegetables – Usually 7 vegetables or 9 vegetables are used in this thalagam. You can even add brinjal, potato as per your wish when you are making it on regular days.
- Coconut tempering – add 1 tablespoon of coconut while tempering. Roast until golden in color and top it to the thalagam.
See this pongal gotsu recipe on my website!
Storage & Serving suggestions
Thiruvathirai thalagam kuzhambu stays good for 10 hours at room temperature and couple of days in fridge.
Serve it with Thiruvathirai kali or plain cooked rice or manjal pongal which is prepared in the Tamil month of Aadi.
Top tip
- Cut the vegetables in large cubes for best texture in this thalagam kuzhambu recipe.
- Dot over cook the vegetables and depending on your cooker make and mode, you can even reduce to 1 whistle to avoid this.
- Keep the vegetables like yam, sweet potato, immersed in water to prevent discoloration.
- You can even cook in stove top if you are not comfortable in pressure cooking. Add vegetables that take long time to cook, like drumstick, elephant yam, broad beans first and boil for 3 minutes, on top of it, add other vegetables according to their cooking time.
FAQ
A traditional thiruvathirai thalagam kuzhambu recipe made for festival offerings varies from household to household. In our home, our elders at home ask to avoid adding vegetables like drumstick, white pumpkin, brinjal on festival days. They even avoid turmeric powder and use fresh turmeric if possible.
But if you make on regular days, you can add your own choice of vegetables. The recipe I have provided is lenient and made on regular days. Please consult elders at home and follow their advice to make as an sacred offering.
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Recipe card
Thiruvathirai thalagam recipe | Thalagam kuzhambu
Thalagam recipe with medley of vegetables, fresh roasted ground spices and coconut. Learn how to make it with step by step images and video.
Equipments (Amazon Affiliate links)
Ingredients
- 3 cups Mixed vegetables See note 1
- 1 tablespoon Tamarind packed
- 1 teaspoon Jaggery
- ¼ teaspoon Turmeric Optional
- Salt
Spice paste
- 1 tablespoon Black sesame seeds or white sesame seeds
- 1 tablespoon Raw rice Sona masuri
- 2 teaspoon Coconut oil
- 1 tablespoon Toor dal Split pigeon peas
- ½ cup Grated coconut
- 6 Red chilli Dry red chillies
- 2 sprigs Curry leaves
To temper
- 1 tablespoon Coconut oil virgin
- ½ teaspoon Mustard
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Instructions
-
I used ¼ cup dried mochai, so soaked it overnight.
-
Pressure cooked for 3 whistles in medium flame with salt and ½ cup water in a small pressure cooker.
-
You can use fresh mochai too to make kuzhambu thalagam. Either way pressure cook it prior using in the recipe.
Spice paste
-
After that, let's prepare the spice paste. Firstly dry roast sesame seeds until it pops and remove in a plate.
-
Then roast rice until it turns milky white, set aside.
-
After that, add 2 teaspoon of oil in the pan, add toor dal, red chillies and roast until dal turns golden in color.
-
Then add curry leaves and give it a roast.
-
After that, add 2 teaspoon of oil in the pan, add toor dal, red chillies and roast until dal turns golden in color.
-
Add curry leaves and give it a roast. Finally add coconut and roast until just dry, no need to wait until golden.
-
Remove in a plate for cooling.
Thalagam kuzhambu
-
Take a small pressure cooker, add hard vegetables which takes longer to cook in bottom. Drumstick, yam etc. Then top it off with all other vegetables gradually.
-
After that, extract tamarind juice and add to it (1 cup total).
-
Close the lid and pressure cook for just 2 whistles in high flame.
-
Once done, I transferred to another vessel as my cooker was too small.
-
Close the lid and pressure cook for just 2 whistles in high flame.
-
Once done, I transferred to another vessel as my cooker was too small.
-
Do not stir, just add turmeric, 1 more cup water, salt and jaggery.
-
Grind the spices we roasted with ¼ cup (or as needed) water.
-
Pour it to the cooked vegetables and add 1 & ¼ cup more water washing off the mixie. Gently give it a mix.
-
Once it boils mix each minute (3-4 minutes) and switch off the stove.
-
Heat a small pan with coconut oil and splutter mustard.
-
Finally add it to the thalagam and it's ready!
Video
Notes
- I used yellow pumpkin (parangikkai 8 cubes), broad beans (avarakkai 12 numbers), mochai (¼ cup), plantain (vazhakkai ¼), Elephant yam (senai kizhangu 5 cubes), Sweet potato (sakkarai valli kizhangu -6 small cubes), Arbi/ taro (Seppan kizhangu 1 cut into 4 cubes), white pumpkin(poosanikai 6 cubes), drumstick (murungakkai 1) total 9 vegetables.
- Avoid drumstick, white pumpkin, turmeric if making for festivals.
- Black sesame are more fragrant and authentically used in this dish.
