Tamuk – An offering of Christians in churches of Kerala

Ingredients for Tamuk:

1. Jnaalipoovam (Rasa kadali) – A small type banana – 101
2. Puzhukkalari (parboiled rice – brown colour) – 1 kg
3. Jaggery – 1 kg
4. Coconut – 2
5. Cumin seeds – 2 tsp
6. Cardamom – 10-12

Method of preparation of Tamuk:

1. Clean the rice and drain water.
2. Use a big kadai (cheena chatti) to fry it well. Rice should be fried well till bubbles formed.
3. Then grind rice without water, similar to the flour of steam cake.
4. Melt jaggery and extract its dust particles. Then add scrapped coconut and fry it well. Put the flame off.
5. Remove banana skin and split into two (lengthwise). Then make it four slices. So totally we will get 8 square/rectangle pieces.
6. Add these banana pieces to jaggery-banana mixture.
7. Add rice flour little by little to this mixture and stir well.
8. Make small balls and serve.

What are the things to be noted while preparing Thamuk?

• All the accessories used for thamuk preparation is to be cleaned and dried well before use.
• Rasakadali is best. If we use palayamkodan banana, thamuk balls may melt later.
• Before frying rice, the kadai should be hot.
• Spatula used for stirring rice also has some peculiarities. It’s made from the stick of coconut leaves (called eerkkil in Malayalam). Tie a few sticks to form a broom to fry rice so that all rice grains will be cooked equally.