Curry Leaves Rice - Kariveppilai Sadam Recipe

Curry leaves are commonly used in Indian seasoning which enhances the taste and flavor of the dish. Most of the times we used to throw these away without knowing the fact that these curry leaves are packed with carbohydrates, fiber, calcium, phosphorous, irons and vitamins like vitamin C, vitamin A, vitamin B, vitamin E, curry leaves help your heart function better, fights infections and can enliven your hair and skin with vitality.The best way to make your family consume curry leaves is to cook them in the form of rice. I have also uploaded a Curry Leaf thokku recipe earlier. Here comes the recipe for Curry Leaves Rice.

Ingredients

Cooked rice - 1 bowl
Salt as per taste

To Temper

Gingely oil - 2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Urad dal - 1 tsp
Channa dal - 1 tsp
Peanuts - 1 tbsp (optional)
Hing and turmeric powder - a pinch

To roast and grind

Curry leaves - 1 cup, tightly packed
Channa dal - 2 tsp
Coriander seeds - 1 tsp
Sesame seeds - 1/2 tsp
Dry red chillies - 2

Method

1. Rinse the curry leaves well and allow them to dry completely. Heat a pan and dry roast all the ingredients except curry leaves mentioned under "To roast and grind" until they turn golden brown. 
2. Then add the curry leaves and saute for couple of minutes until they turn crisp. Allow to cool and then grind to a coarse powder. 
3. Take a wide pan add oil and do the seasoning with the ingredients mentioned under "To Temper". Roast them until all the ingredients turn golden brown. Add hing and turmeric powder, mix well and turn off the flame. 
4. Add the rice, required salt and the ground curry leaves powder. Mix well. Serve with papad or raita.

Notes

• You can even make this powder in bulk and prepare mix it with rice as and when needed.
• You can also add cashews instead of peanuts.
• You can also use this as a side dish for idly/dosa
• Finely chopped onions can also be sauted till golden brown and added to the rice as we do for biryanis. This will enhance the flavor of the rice

Chithra Pournami Platter - Kalavai Sadam

Chitra Pournami, or Chithirai Poornima, is a Tamil ritual observed on the full moon day in the month of Chitirai (April – May). It is a special occasion for Chitragupta who is the assistant of Lord Yama, the God of Death. During this auspicious day, every house in southern India prepares lavish lunch with all mixed rice called as Kalavai sadam in tamil. On this day, special pujas are done and special rice offerings are made to Chitragupta. It is a ritual that they prepare a variety of mixed rices like Sakkarai Pongal, Lemon Rice, Tamarind Rice, Coconut Rice, Curd Rice etc. and offer to the God and eat the same. During my childhood days my mom will prepare all the variety rices and we used to dine in the terrace!! Needless to say that the moonlit dinner would used to be just awesome!!! Missing those good old days and the open terrace night outs...

Recipes on the platter are:

1. Sakkarai Pongal
2. Lemon Rice/Elumichai Sadam
3. Coconut Rice/Thengai Sadam
4. Tamarind Rice/Pulisadam/Puliyogare
5. Curd Rice/Thayir Sadam
6. Urulai Kizhangu poriyal (Potato Poriyal)

 Have a break on this Chithra Pournami from those dining tables, televisions etc and try an open terrace dinner. Everyone in the family will surely love the dinner and the whole lot of time spent together. Happy dining!!

Sakkarai Pongal - Chakkarai Pongal - Sweet Pongal (Using Pressure Cooker)

Making Sakkarai Pongal the modern way, using the Pressure Cooker. This delicacy is not only made on the Pongal festival, it is also made throughout the year for different festivals to offer to God as Prasadam This time I had prepared it for the Chithra Pournami platter. As I had to prepare the other variety rices too I had opted for the easiest method of preparation using the Pressure Cooker. There are always N number of ways of preparing this sweet dish, like making it in a pot which is the traditional way, or by adding milk or pacha karpooram(edible camphor) etc. This version of mine is the simplest I would feel. This is how my mom and sis prepares sakkarai pongal on a regular day. I had to adapt this today as it is a great time saver.

Ingredients

Raw rice - 1/2 cup
Moong dal - 3 tbsp or little lesser than that
Jaggery - 1/2 cup
Water - 2 to 2 1/2 cups, as per the quality of your rice
Ghee - 3-4 tbsp
Salt - a pinch (for enhancing the taste)
Cashews - 10
Raisins - 10-15
Elaichi - 1

Method

1. Wash the rice and set aside. In a pressure cooker, add 1/2 tsp of ghee and roast the moong dal until it turns golden brown and nice aroma rises.
2. To the roasted moong dal add rice, salt and water and pressure cook for 3 whistles and simmer for 3-5 mins and turn off the stove. (The cooking time depends on the rice and the individual pressure cooker, so adjust accordingly)
3. Once the pressure is released, mash the rice and moong dal well with the back of the ladle.
4. Powder jaggery and heat it with water just to immerse it and bring to boil. Let the jaggery completely dissolve and  filter it and add to the  mashed rice in the cooker.  Otherwise, you can also powder the jaggery well and add it to the steaming hot rice and mix well so the the jaggery melts and mixes along well. The stove should be turned on and simmered for this process. Add couple of tsps of ghee and mix well. Ensure that the jaggery is dissovled fully.  
5. In a separate pan, heat a tsp of ghee and roast cashews to golden and add raisins and elaichi to it. Saute for few seconds and turn off the stove and add this to the pongal. Mix well, add few more tsps of ghee. If the pongal is too thick, add some boiled milk (warm/medium hot) little by little. If the mixture becomes too loose, keep on a low fire and continue stirring until desired consistency.

Coconut Rice - Thengai Sadam

Coconut rice is a very simple but a very tasty dish. VJ loves this the most, especially for dinner. It works great with leftover rice and if you have some grated coconut ready on hand, then can be made in a jiffy. The finely chopped ginger and the roasted cashews gives a nice aroma to this rice.

Ingredients

Cooked rice - 1 cup
Grated coconut - 1/2 cup or little more 
Mustard seeds –1 tsp
Channa dal/Bengal Gram/kadalai paruppu – 2 tsp
Urad dal – 2 tsp
Red chillies – 1
Green chillies - 2, chopped finely
Curry leaves – few
Ginger - 1 inch piece, finely chopped
Cashew nuts - 5 or 6
Oil, salt and hing as per taste
Method

Allow the rice to cool off completely. Rice should be cooked in a way that the grains are seen separately.

Heat oil in a kadai/ pan, add mustard seeds, when they splutter, add channa dal, urad dal, cashew nuts and roast till it becomes slightly brown. Add red chillies, green chillies, ginger, asafoetida and curry leaves and sauté for a few more seconds.

Add grated coconut and sauté for a few minutes till it becomes slightly brown. Add salt needed.
Add cooked rice and mix it well. Serve hot. It tastes good with potato chips or with delicious roasted potatoes!

Lemon Rice

A hassle-free lunch-box option, lemon rice is a favourite with young and old alike in southern india! Most often the best accompaniment for lemon rice is spicy roasted potatoes but I like to have coconut chutney as a side dish. That's a wonderful combination. Try this and may be you'll love it too..

Ingredients

Cooked rice - 1 cup
Lemon - 1
Ginger - 1 inch piece, chopped finely
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Salt as per taste

To Temper

Oil, mustard seeds, urad dal, channa dal, peanuts, red chilli, green chilli, curry leaves

Method

Allow the cooked rice to cool off completely. We do not want the rice to get mashed up while mixing. Squeeze the lemon juice and keep it ready. Take care to discard the lemon seeds.

In a kadai, do the tempering and add the chopped ginger and saute for few seconds. Add the turmeric powder and turn off the flame. Now immediately add the lemon juice and give a quick stir. Add this to the cooled rice along with required salt and mix well. Allow to sit for sometime so that the flavor blends well.

** Switch off the stove before adding the lemon juice. Else you may get a bitter taste if the lemon juice gets cooked for a long time.

Curd Rice - Thayir Sadam

For most South Indians, curd rice is the customery end to every lunch and dinner meal.  It is usually prepared by mashing cooked plain rice and then mixing it with some salt, yogurt and (a bit of milk to lessen the sour flavor of yogurt or to stop it from souring too much) garnishing it with fried urad dal, mustard seeds, green chilli and chopped cilantro and is often accompanied with Lemon or Mango pickle. But my favorite combo is curd rice with potato poriyal :-) You can garnish with variety of ingredients like grated carrots, fried cashews, pomegranate seeds, green/purple grapes etc. In the recent days studies says that it is better to avoid curd for dinner, but if one is accustomed you can take it in the form of buttermilk.

 

Ingredients

Cooked rice - 1/2 cup

Curd/yogurt - 1/2 cup, adjust as per taste and need

Milk - 1/2 cup, adjust as per taste and need

Curry leaves and coriander leaves for garnish
Salt, hing as per taste

To Temper

Oil, Mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves as per need
Green chilly - 1, chopped finely
Ginger - 1 inch piece, chopped finely
Cashews - few, broken into small pieces (optional)

Method

Take the cooked rice in a wide bowl. The rice should be hot enough to handle. Mash it well with the back of the laddle or spoon. Add the boiled milk and mix well without any lumps. Once it is cooled add the curd and salt and mix well. You can also add a little bit of water if required. The consistency should not be very thick nor too watery.

Now do the tadka with the tempering ingredients and add this to the curd rice. Garnish with chopped curry leaves and coriander leaves.

** Adjust the ratio of curd, milk and water as per your taste and consistency. If you like a tangy taste increase the quantity of curd and lessen milk/water. If you are packing for lunch box, add more milk and less curd.