Annasuthi — Ghee Placed over Food
Annasuthi (Tamil: aṉṉa-cutti) denotes pouring or placing a small quantity of ghee over cooked food, especially rice, as anna-suddhi; Tamil lexicons also use the word for the ghee employed in that act. It should not be defined as the name of a separate rice preparation or automatically equated with neyyamuthu.
Vedic and Ritual Context
Ghee (ghṛta / ājya) has a distinguished place in Vedic ritual and in sāttvika food offerings. When ghee is placed over rice offered to Bhagavān or served as prasāda, the act participates in that broader reverence for ghee. This context, however, does not turn annasuthi into a distinct recipe called “ghee rice.”
In Practice
The precise use of the term follows regional and household usage. It ordinarily points to the small quantity of ghee placed over the food, or to the act of placing it, rather than to an independently prepared dish.