Paruthi Paal, or Cottonseed Milk

A warm, spiced, healing energy drink, made famously on street corners in Madurai from an agricultural byproduct--cottonseed!

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200-250 g paruthi kottai or cottonseed (yields 1 liter of milk)
2 tablespoons raw rice, soaked and ground to a paste (or substitute with rice flour+1/2 cup water)
1 cup karupetti or palm jaggery dissolved in a little water to form a syrup
½ teaspoon powdered dry ginger or chukka
1 teaspoon powdered chitthirathai or dry lesser galangal
2-3 cardamom pods, powdered
Coconut milk extracted from 1 whole grated coconut

The previous night:

The next morning:

Rinse again, and pick out as many empty seeds as possible. Bugs tend to get to these, and you’ll find more than a few empty husks.
Transfer to a blender, add fresh clean water to cover and blend. Add more water if needed.
Extract the milk by straining over a cheesecloth. Use a spoon, and squeeze the cheesecloth with your hands.
Add more water and blend again to extract the “second milk.”
Now strain all the milk once more—trust me, it’s needed to get out all the husk bits remaining.
Transfer the milk to a heavy-bottomed pan, and bring to a simmer.
Once bubbles form, add the jaggery syrup. Mix well.
Follow with the ½ cup rice paste and stir constantly as this thickens the paruthi paal. Bring to a rolling boil, but keep stirring.
Add the spice mixture (saving a pinch or two to garnish), give it all a good stir, and switch off the flame. Transfer to a copper vessel, if you can, to store.

To serve:

Fill a glass halfway with the hot parutthi paal and top with room temperature coconut milk.
If you have any spice powder left-over, sprinkle on top. Garnish with freshly grated coconut.
The paruthi paal without coconut milk stores well in the fridge for 2-3 days. Add coconut milk only when you wish to serve, or it will spoil much faster than that.