Ulundu Sadam (Urad dal Rice)

Ulundu Sadam (Urad dal Rice)

 Urad dal (Black gram) is used in a variety of dishes in South Indian cooking. It is used in making Idli (rice steam cakes), making all kinds of chutneys, thuvizhals (spicy paste that is eaten with rice). South Indian cooking is also famous for its flavored rice varieties.. Ulundu sadam is a unique flavored rice not very common such as tamarind, lemon or coconut rice and it is my family's favorite.

I discovered this recipe while I was in the US from an excellent South Indian recipe book, called Dakshin (Chandra Padmanabhan). Every time there was leftover rice, this was a quick spicy, flavorful snack everyone would relish.  It became my signature dish that my mom-in-law asked me to make for relatives or herself as she was very fond of the same.


1 cup rice (cooked)
3 tbsp ghee or Sesame oil or refined oil
2 tbsp cashew nuts (can substitute with peanuts)
2 green chillies (this brings good flavor more than heat)
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp black gram seeds
1 tsp bengal gram (chana dal)
1 red chilli
1/2 tsp asafoetida powder
a few curry leaves (the more, the flavorful)

salt to taste

Dry Masala
2 tbsp urad dal (blackgram)
1.5 tsp black pepper corns (this is a must - bring flavor)
2 tbsp sesame seeds
2 tbsp coconut powder


Directions
Grind the dry masala after dry frying the ingredients and keep it aside. In a pan, add 1 tbsp ghee and fry the nuts (cashew or peanuts) along with green chilli and keep it aside. In the same pan, heat the rest of the ghee or oil, and when hot, add the mustard, blackgram, bengal gram seeds along with red chilli, asafoetida and curry leaves. When mustard seeds start to sputter and the dal seeds are brown, add the powder (dry masala), peanuts/chilli mix, and rice and mix them together.

Sesame oil adds more flavor than ghee and goes well with the sesame in the dry masala. The black peppercorns add the heat to the dish apart from the green chilli.

Ulundu Sadam (Urad dal Rice)