Maa Vilakku | Edible Rice Flour Lamp | Festive food

Maa Vilakku, an edible flour lamp made from raw rice flour and jaggery. Maa vilakku is mainly offered as prasadam in Amman Kovil(temple) throughout tamilnadu. I have fond memories associated with maa vilakku. 

During our childhood days, we went to sankaran kovil( a small town in south tamilnadu and also it's my mom's native place ) for Aadi thabasu(ஆடித்தபசு) festival in Gomathi amman temple there. Mostly all my cousins and their family would be there at my aachi's(grandma's) house and it was kind of a get-together at that time. 

One of my periamma( Mom's sister) makes maavilakku every year(and still she's doing it ) for the aadi thabasu festival without fail. Not one or two, at least 21 maavilakku she would have made in those days single handedly, later we all went to the temple, lit the maa vilakku in front of the Gomathi amman sannathi and did the pooja. Once we reached the home we had our share of maa vilakku, it was so tasty and I still have the lingering memories of that taste. 

Also i have the memory of Amma making them whenever we visit irukkankudi mariamman temple. Last year itself i asked Amma on how to make this maa vilakku and tried, but i was not fully satisfied with the outcome. 

This year before coming to Canada, my MIL told me that she had the long pending wish for making maa vilakku at a nearby Amman temple and would like to do that before my travel. Since i was traveling in the next few days, my mom and dad were also there with me,so Amma & MIL together made the maa vilakku and i had the chance to observe the details for making the perfect maa vilakku.

Later on one Aadi Velli,i tried my hands on it & it turned out super good in terms of both taste & texture. To me, Maa vilakku should be firm when broken into small pieces. Neither sticky nor crumbly. Glad that i learned to make perfect Maa Vilakku. Ok, thanks for reading my story, now let's check out on how to make them. It can also be offered as prasadam on auspicious days like  "Puratasi Sani", "Aadi Valli", "Karthigai Deepam" , "Thai month" and so on.

Maa Vilakku | Edible Rice Flour Lamp

Preparation Time : 3 hrs | Cooking Time : 0 mins | Makes : 1 
Recipe Category: Sweet | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Maa Vilakku, Edible flour lamp, Puratasi Sani, Aadi Velli,Karthigai Deepam,Sweet Maa Vilakku, a edible flour lamp made from raw rice flour and jaggery. Maa vilakku is mainly offered as prasadam in Amman Kovil(temple) throughout tamilnadu.It can also be offered as prasadam in auspicious days like  "Puratasi Sani", "Aadi Velli", "Karthigai Deepam" , "Thai month" and so on.

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Ingredients
Raw Rice - 1/2 cup
Jaggery - 1/4 + 2 tbsp
Cardamon - 2
Ghee - 1 tsp + extra for lighting.

Procedure

First take the rice in a bowl, wash it thrice or until the water runs clear. 

Then add enough water to cover the rice and soak it for 2 hours. After 2 hours drain the water and spread it on thick paper / kitchen towel to absorb the excess moisture for 30-40 mins.

The rice shouldn't be soaking wet but at the same time you can feel the moisture when you hold it in your hand, that's the correct stage for making the flour. Put the rice in the mixie jar and grind into smooth powder. If needed sieve it once for fine texture. 

Add the jaggery into it and pulse it couple for times to get it together. Transfer to the plate.

Powder the cardamon seed and add it. Next add the ghee and mix it all together.

Gather the flour and make it as round. Place it on the plate that you're gonna to lit the maavilakku. Using your thumb to make the impression in the center to pour the oil/ghee.

Place kumkum on the maa vilakku, then place thread in the center and pour the ghee/oil.

Now your maa vilakku is ready to lit. 

Related: How to make Vilakku Kozhukattai  

Notes:

• Crush the jaggery roughly into coarse powder with hand motor and pestle before put it in the mixie for easy and even mixing with the flour.
• Make sure that the  rice is neither too dry not too wet before making the rice flour.
• If your maa vilakku ends up too loose and doesn't hold shape, you can add couple of spoon of regular rice flour. That will affect the taste slightly but saves the maa vilakku.
• If the flour is too dry to hold the shape, add more ghee to form the shape.
• Don't use the water to shape the maa vilakku, the shelf life would be reduced.
• In this method, you can make the maa vilakku previous night itself and keep it in room temperature for next day pooja.
• Excess consumption of maa vilakku aids to upset stomach or pain since everything is raw in this recipe