The land of Ambhat Bhaath
A little taste
of home.
Familiar names. Family favourites. The food that brings us back to the table.
Some dishes taste like a place. Others bring back the person who made them for you. Choose a dish and cook along with measured ingredients, clear steps and credited sources in English and Tamil. Browse rice dishes, gravies, snacks, sweets, spice powders and vegetarian or non-vegetarian sides.
From our kitchens
Find an old favourite.
Meet a new one.
Every dish opens a full recipe. Find measured ingredients, numbered steps and ideas for what to serve alongside.
Rice & pongal
Rice is the heart of every Sourashtra meal, and the mixed rice dishes are what we are best known for.
A taste of home
Ambhat Bhaath
Puliyodharai
Tamarind rice finished with roasted fenugreek and a crisp dal tempering.
Serki Bhaath
Cotton seed milk rice
Sweet rice slow-cooked in paruthi paal with palm jaggery and cardamom.
Thakkali Pongal
Tomato rice
Jeeraga samba rice cooked with tomatoes, mint and whole spices.
Limbu Pongal
Lemon rice
Lemon rice with a golden dal-and-curry-leaf tempering.
Muddha Ambhat Bhaath
Mashed tamarind rice
Soft, one-pot tamarind rice with a spoonable pongal texture.
Ounty & Pilchar
Our gravies and rasams, built on homemade bhurko rather than shop-bought powders.
Kajali Ounty
Mutton liver gravy
Mutton liver simmered with coconut, cashews and whole spices.
Joman Pilchar
Tomato garlic rasam
Tomato rasam with crushed garlic and a pepper-forward finish.
Chaina Ounty
Festive meat gravy
A Diwali-style mutton curry with freshly ground coconut masala.
Thakkali Ounty
Thakkali kulambu
An onion-and-tomato gravy thickened with Ounty Bhurko.
Snacks & sweets
Street-side favourites from Madurai and the sweets that come out on festival days.
Pangarappan Bhairi
Mullu murungai keerai vadai
Crisp rice-and-greens fritters made with mullu murungai leaves.
Keerai Vadai
Spinach vadai
A mixed-dal spinach version, separate from the rice-based bhairi.
Gullu Appam
Palm-jaggery appam / Loni appam
Fermented rice appam sweetened with palm jaggery, with a soft centre and lacy edge.
Bun Halwa
Rusk halwa / bread halwa
Rusk crumbs roasted in ghee and cooked in sugar syrup until glossy.
Sojji Appam
Stuffed sweet appam
A soft flour covering around a cooked semolina, jaggery and coconut filling.
The bhurko
Every Sourashtra kitchen keeps its own jars of roasted, hand-ground powders. They are what give our food its aroma.
Ounty Bhurko
Gravy powder
A roasted coriander, rice and dal blend for tomato and garlic gravies.
Sambar Bhurko
Sambar powder
A roasted coriander-and-dal sambar powder with chillies and curry leaves.
Pilchar Bhurko
Rasam powder
A pepper-forward rasam powder with cumin, chillies and curry leaves.
Side dishes
Vegetarian and non-vegetarian sides, from tamarind garlic gravy to pepper chicken.
Garlic kuzhambu
Losan Kolkar
Garlic simmered in tamarind and Ounty Bhurko.
Black chana sundal
Coconut chickpea sundal
Tender black chickpeas tossed with coconut and a mustard tempering.
Brinjal fry
Kathirikkai varuval
A dry brinjal-and-onion side seasoned with homemade sambar powder.
Pepper chicken
Chicken varuval with Pilchar Bhurko
Chicken varuval seasoned with Pilchar Bhurko, curry leaves and curd.
No dishes found. Try another name or clear the filters.
Family versions vary. Prep and cooking times exclude the soaking, resting or fermentation listed separately.
Language
Speak the menu.
A few familiar words to help you find your way around a Sourashtra meal.
- Bhaath
- Rice, or a rice dish
- Ounty
- Gravy, kuzhambu
- Pilchar
- Rasam
- Bhurko
- Spice powder, podi
- Phalar
- Idli
- Bhairi
- Vadai, fritter
Community
Your family's recipe belongs here.
Every Sourashtra household makes these a little differently. Help this cookbook grow with your family’s version. Send your recipe, with a photo you own if you have one, to tirukonda@palkar.org.
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