Gothambu Kaachiyathu

{Ramadan Special} – Gothambu Kaachiyathu by Rafeeda of ‘The Big Sweet Tooth’

As Rafeeda of ‘The Big Sweet Tooth‘ look out for this Joy From Fasting To Feasting event, I look out for her delicious and authentic Kerala recipes. Rafeeda’s blog is an awesome collection of her day to day cooking…despite being a working mom, Rafeeda takes time to her nurture her passion for food blogging. Thank you Rafee for being part of this event and making it wonderful. Do stop by at Rafee’s (that’s what I lovingly call her) blog to know what she is cooking up for you today….Thank you Rafeeda for being part of this event and introducing this wonderful Gothambu Kaachiyathu recipe….

Assalamu alalikum warahmatullah wabarakathuhu to the wonderful readers of Lubna’s pretty space…

 Alhamdulillah, this is my fifth appearance on this space, contributing to this successfully running event “Joy from Fasting to Feasting”. I can’t believe that this is the 10^th version this year. It only goes to show the success of the event and how quickly it is growing. Each time Lubna sends me an email (which I eagerly wait for!), I am excited to be a part of it and my mind plays a lot thinking what to make for her and try to my best on her space.

We all know that Ramadan moves approximately 10 days up from the last year’s dates. This year, after very long, schools will be running during the whole of Ramadan. Last year, Rasha fasted for around 10 school days and since it was exam time, she didn’t have much difficulty. But this time, she gets to fast all the days, with only the last part being exam days. The rest will be with full class periods.

It reminded me of days when we used to go to school and fast. Definitely, it is not easy, but Alhamdulillah, in UAE, school hours shrink by around 2 hours during Ramadan, which is a bonus. The recess is kept only for 10 minutes than the usual 20 minutes. We had such supportive class mates, who used to avoid eating during that time. I fondly remember my fasting days in school and assured Rasha that it would be easy. She has fasted the whole of Ramadan the last three years, Alhamdulillah, so I am sure she wouldn’t want to miss out any this time too. I am hoping Azza will start joining in, though I am not sure if she would do it. InShaAllah, we will see… J

The long fasting hours mean that the food served at the table should be not be healthy, but filling too. We usually resort to a lot of liquids and fruits during the Iftar time. Apart from juices, we always serve a milk based warm drink, which is usually made of semolina, oats, raagi (finger millet) or koova (arrowroot). Last Ramadan, in a food group, I was seeing a few sharing a drink called “ooral kaachiyathu”. I didn’t give it much care, since I was too busy with Ramadan related activities. Recently I remembered about it and went searching for the recipe on Google, only to be disappointed not to find any. I then posted on that group and thankfully got a couple of them who came around and helped me out with the recipe. I am so thankful to them for it, otherwise I would have really missed out on this delicious drink!

Gothambu Kaachiyathu or Ooral Kaachiyathu is a wheat based drink, served primarily in the Thalassery-Kannur side of Kerala. Instead of using flour, the whole wheat is soaked till soft and then ground along with some coconut with very little water. The strained mixture is called “ooral”, it seems. This is cooked in milk with sugar till the milk turns glossy. Then, in typical Malabar style, it is served with a sprinkling of ghee fried pearl onions and cashews.

I will call this a must-try this Ramadan. This drink is totally delicious! The energy it gives after a small cup is immense and you will crave to have more of it. Everybody in the house loved it so much, including Rasha, who is normally not very fond of such drinks. Off to this simple recipe:

Gothambu Kaachiyathu ~ Malabar Wheat Drink

Serves 4-6

INGREDIENTS:

• ¼ cup whole Wheat
• 1 cup grated Coconut
• 4 cups Milk
• A fat pinch of Cardamom powder
• A pinch Salt
• 4 tbsp. Sugar
• 1 tbsp. Ghee
• 3-4 pearl Onions (cheriyulli), peeled and sliced
• 10-15 Cashews
• 10-15 Raisins

PREPARATION:

• Soak the whole wheat in water till soft, around two hours.
• Drain the wheat and wash well.
• In a grinder jar, add the wheat, coconut and ¼ cup of water and grind well till you have a smooth paste.
• Sieve the paste well. Discard the residue and keep aside the “ooral”.
• In a saucepan, heat milk.
• Add in the cardamom, sugar and salt and bring it to a boil.
• Add the “ooral” and give a good stir. Keep stirring and cooking on low flame till the mixture looks glossy. Turn off the heat.
• In a small pan, heat ghee. Fry the onions till browned. Add the cashews and raisins and briefly fry.
• Pour this tempering into the kaachiyathu and keep the lid closed for around 10 minutes for the flavors to infuse.
• Stir well before serving them warm.

NOTES:

• The use of coconut is optional. You can grind the whole wheat alone with little water and strain the mixture.
• The quantity mentioned gives a thin drink, since my family loves this consistency. To make a thicker drink, reduce the milk by a cup and proceed with the same process.
• You can skip the pearl onions and temper with only the fried cashews and raisins. However the onions gives it the actual Malabar flavor.
• Instead of using only milk, you can use a mix of milk and coconut milk.

I hope you enjoyed this simple recipe. JazakAllah Khair Lubna for this chance yet again… Wishing all of you a Ramadan filled with His blessings and goodness…

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Find more Ramadan Special recipes of this season @ Joy From Fasting To Feasting – X.