Madi refers to ceremonially pure clothes
Paththu generally refers to cooked rice. Because it sticks to hand, it is called Paththu (paRRu). Anything that is stored along with cooked rice, will also become paththu. If stored separately, only cooked rice is paththu.
While serving palahaara, pathhtu should be avoided and any items stored along with cooked rice must not be consumed.
Notes:
MaDi:
Our body and clothes are tainted and impure when we lie down in our bed during nighttime.
To remove the impurity, we need to take bath and wash our clothes and hang them to dry in a clothesline.
One must not touch with hand or any part of the body, the clothes put out for drying. Only after purifying ourselves should we take the clothes from the clothesline wearing.
Paththu
Ghee, curd, milk, etc. are not considered paththu items
Paththu and non-paththu items should not be mixed and are kept and used separately.
For example, while serving food, after serving cooked rice, one must wash hands before touching the container that contains ghee.
While preparing food, the place where the items are cooked must be different for paththu and non-paththu items. It is better if the stoves used for cooking rice and boiling milk are different. If unavoidable, clean the stove after cooking the food and before boiling the milk.
Food with longer shelves like pickles, dosa/idli batter, etc., must also be kept separated from paththu items. Always must wash hands after touching paththu items and before touching non-paththu items.