A - Z Rice Dishes ~ I for Iyengar Style Kadambam

Today, it's time for kadambam, a traditional rice dish that literally tastes divine. Kadambam, in Tamil can be referred to as a medley of similar things though a strand/garland made with a mixture of aromatic flowers is commonly referred to as so. Here in culinary terms, a kadambam is a medley of rice, lentils and vegetables cooked with flavorful spices, steamed lentil balls and fried sun-dried berries. According to the source recipe, this dish happens to be a specialty of Iyengar community and this is a famous prasadam served in Perumal temples across the state. Though on-set, this kadambam sounds similar to sambhar saadam or kadhamba saadam, it is not the case. A kadambam dish makes use of country vegetables like ash gourd, pumpkin, plantain, flat beans and others. Onion, garlic, cilantro, whole spices like cinnamon & cloves, non-local vegetables like carrot, beans, potatoes are all avoided in this recipe. 

The recipe has a long list of ingredients and comes across as a tedious one though apart from the paruppu urundai preparation which takes a little extra time, the dish is not that difficult to put together. The fried sun dried berries, sundakkai add a nice crunch to the dish and paruppu urundai are an interesting addition..

Source: Here
Ingredients to grind:
1 tsp. oil
3 tbsp. coriander seeds
2 tsp. split chick peas / Bengal gram
2 tsp. black gram / urad dal
1/4 tsp. fenugreek seeds / methi seeds
1/2 tsp. peppercorns
2 dried red chiilies
2 tbsp. grated coconut
1/8 tsp. asafoetida powder
Ingredients for paruppu urundai:
1/2 cup toor dal / lentils
2 dried red chillies
Salt to taste
2 tbsp. oil 
Ingredients for kadambam:
1 tbsp. dry sundakkai
1 cup rice
1/2 cup toor dal
3 cups mixed vegetables cut into big pieces (vegetables like ash gourd, broad beans, cluster beans, pumpkin and plantain)
1 tbsp. black garbanzo beans / kala chana
A lemon sized ball of tamarind
1/8 tsp. turmeric powder
1 tbsp. + 1 tsp. sesame oil
Salt to taste
Ingredients for tempering:
1 tsp. ghee
2 dry red chillies
1/4 tsp. mustard seeds
A sprig of curry leaves

Prep work: 
* Soak black garbanzo beans overnight.
* Soak tamarind in water for about 30 minutes. Extract pulp from the tamarind. 
* Heat a tsp. oil and toast all the ingredients except coconut under the list 'to grind' until light brown. Add coconut next and fry until it changes color. Let cool and grind finely.

Method:
* For paruppu urundai, soak lentils and red chilies in water for an hour. Drain the water and grind to a coarse paste adding salt. Heat oil, add this paste and saute well until the color changes. Shape into big marble sized balls and steam cook until done. Keep them aside.
* Heat a tsp. of ghee and fry sundakkais until dark brown.
* Wash rice and toor dal thoroughly with water and drain. Pressure cook rice, toor dal and black garbanzo adding 3 cups of water. When the valve pressure is gone, remove the lid, mash the cooked mixture well and keep aside.
* Meanwhile, cook vegetables adding about a cup water, a tbsp. of oil and turmeric in a pan, until almost done. Next add tamarind and cook until the raw smell of tamarind leaves. Now add the cooked rice and lentils mixture, paruppu urundai, sundakkais, ground spice powder and salt to the pan. Mix well with a ladle thoroughly so that there are not any lumps. Add any extra water if needed to reach the desired consistency and cook for about another five minutes, stirring frequently.
* Heat a tsp. ghee for tempering in a small pan. Add mustard seeds, red chillies and curry leaves. When the mustard seeds start to splutter, turn off the stove and add this tempering to the above rice, kadambam.
* Finally add a tsp.of raw sesame oil to the kadambam and mix well.
* Serve with papad / wadis.

Recipes so far in A - Z Rice Dishes,
A for Achaari Chole Pulao
B for Bhuna Khichuri
C for Chintapandu Pulihora
D for Dindigul Thalapakatti Veg Biryani
E for Ellorai / Ellotharai  
F for Fodnicha Bhaat 
G for Gongura Pulihora 
H for Hare Moong ki Chaaswaali Khichdi

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 68.

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