Tamil Vazha Ilai Virunthu

Celebrate the Tamil New Year with a traditional Tamil Vazha ilai virunthu from Shri cafe

How to order:

• Each meal package contains 12 items (see full list below) and is $26.99.
• Use the form below to select the number of boxes.
• Orders must be placed by 4:00 PM on Monday, April 13th.
• Pick up your order at Shri Cafe between 4:00 PM - 8:00 PM Tuesday, April 14th.

What's in each box:

• Banana Leaf, the traditional base for a Tamil feast. Tip faces left; sides and sweets arrange along the top, rice and curries in the center.
• Mango Pachadi (4 oz) Raw mango cooked with jaggery, tamarind, neem flowers, and spices into a chutney that hits all six tastes — sweet, sour, bitter, salty, spicy, and astringent. The first taste of the meal.
• Sweet Pongal (8 oz) Rice and moong dal slow-cooked with jaggery, ghee, cardamom, cashews, and raisins until thick and fragrant.
• Appalam (1) Crisp, thin lentil wafer. Served from the start of the meal for crunch and contrast throughout.
• Paruppu Vadai (2 pcs) Soaked chana dal ground with green chillies, ginger, curry leaves, and asafoetida, shaped and fried to a golden crisp.
• Sundal (5 oz) Chickpeas dry-tossed with mustard seeds, curry leaves, dried red chillies, and fresh grated coconut.
• White Rice (24 oz) Steamed soft and fluffy. The anchor of the leaf.
• Mix Veg Sambar (8 oz) Toor dal and mixed vegetables simmered with tamarind and sambar powder into a thin, tangy stew. Ladled over rice.
• Pumpkin Vatha Kuzhambu (8 oz) Pumpkin simmered in a tamarind-based gravy with vatha kuzhambu spices, tempered with mustard seeds and curry leaves. Served as a second pour over rice.
• Thirunelveli Aviyal (8 oz) Mixed vegetables — including raw banana and white brinjal — cooked in a coarsely ground coconut paste, finished with yogurt and coconut oil. A South Tamil Nadu specialty known for its generous use of coconut.
• Raw Banana Poriyal (5 oz) Plantain stir-fried with mustard seeds, curry leaves, dried red chillies, and fresh coconut.
• Carrot-Cabbage Poriyal (5 oz) Shredded carrot and cabbage stir-fried with mustard seeds, curry leaves, and fresh coconut.
• Paruppu Payasam (8 oz) Moong dal simmered in coconut milk and jaggery until creamy, finished with ghee-fried cashews and cardamom. Served as the final course.