Arisi Paruppu Sadam

 

For the second week of this month's blogging marathon, I went with the theme of "One State - One Course". I was supposed to pick one Indian state and cook from that region choosing a category from the assigned courses. Out of the norm, I went ahead and prepared 3 snack dishes in advance. However at the last moment I decided to prepare another set of rice dishes from Tamilnadu. My husband who is a lover of rice dishes happened to be working from home last week. Mostly he would be traveling for his work and by the time he reaches home, he would be starving for home-cooked meals, especially rice dishes and so, I tried them for a change to treat him. We enjoyed each one of them and sure are they are going to be a part of my kitchen in the future too.
The first one in the series is going to be this flavorful, simple and quick arisi - paruppu sadam aka dal bhath. This is an authentic Kongu nadu recipe, Kongu nadu being the Western parts of Tamilnadu. This recipe comes handy when you run out of vegetables or in a mood for a quick and light meal. I saw both mushy and dry kind virtual versions and decided to go with this version where grains stand apart.

Ingredients: (3 servings)
1/2 cup rice
1/4 cup toor dal
1.5 cups water
Salt to taste

For tadka:
1 Tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
A sprig of curry leaves
3 - 4 red chillies
1 small onion, chopped or shallots as needed
3 - 4 garlic cloves
1 small tomato, chopped

Method:
* Soak toor dal and rice together for 10 - 15 minutes. Drain and keep it aside. The toor dal I get doesn't cook faster and so, I soaked it overnight.
* Heat oil in a pressure cooker directly and add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, red chillies and curry leaves. When mustard seeds start to pop, add onion and garlic cloves. Saute until onion turns translucent and then add tomatoes. Fry until the tomato pieces turn mushy.
* Then add rice and dal and saute for a minute. This step is optional but I prefer to do it when I am not cooking mushy one pot meals.
* Add 1&1/2 cups of water and salt to the cooker. Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup more water if you prefer it mushy. Cover the lid, put the weight on and cook for 3-4 whistles.
* Serve warm with a drizzling of ghee.


Check here to find out what other marathoners are cooking during blogging marathon #29.

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