Name: Ellu Sadam
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients: 2 cup Cooked Rice, cooled completely; 2 tbsp Sesame Seeds, black or white, dry roasted; 3 Dried Red Chili Peppers, dry roasted and ground with sesame; 2 tbsp Sesame Oil, gingelly oil; 1 tsp Mustard Seeds; 1 tbsp Split Black Gram (Skinless), urad dal; 2 tbsp Peanuts, roasted peanuts; 10 Curry Leaves; ¼ tsp Asafoetida; 1 tsp Salt, to taste

30 mintotal

20 min hands-on10 min hands-off

Prep 10 min · Cook 10 min

Serves: 2
Difficulty: Easy
Spice: Mild

Add to your week

Method

Check the cooked rice: it has to be properly cold and dry so the grains stay separate. Spread it out on a wide plate if you need it to cool faster.
In a small pan, dry-roast the raw sesame seeds and dry red chillies patiently over low heat. Once they have cooled, grind them in a blender to a coarse, fragrant powder.
Heat the sesame (gingelly) oil in a wide wok until it is hot. Add the mustard seeds and let them crackle straight away.
Add the split black gram (urad dal) and the roasted groundnuts to the hot oil. Fry them steadily until the dal is a deep golden brown and the peanuts are properly crunchy.
Add the asafoetida and fresh curry leaves. Fry them for just a few seconds to bring out their aroma.
Throttle the thermal output to its absolute minimum viable parameter. Introduce the frigid rice mass, the pulverized sesame-chilli ordinance, and the foundational salt measure.
Using a wide spatula, fold everything together very gently. Keep going until every grain is coated in the sesame powder and the tempering, taking care not to break the rice.
Keep it over very low heat for 1 minute so it warms through evenly. Turn off the heat and serve.
1 min

How to tell it's done

Dry, very light grains of rice thickly coated in a dark, fragrant sesame powder, with the crunch of tempered golden lentils and firm peanuts throughout.

Nutrition

Per serving, from 2 servings.

459kcal

Where the calories come from

Protein10.2 g9%
Carbohydrate52.8 g45%
Fat23.5 g46%

Saturated fat: 3.3 g
Fibre: 4 g
Sodium: 1171 mg
Potassium: 247 mg
Calcium: 125 mg
Iron: 2.7 mg

Estimated by calculation from the ingredient list, using USDA FoodData Central. Not a laboratory analysis.

Getting it right

Tip

Sesame oil (gingelly oil) is what gives ellu sadam its flavour. With ordinary oil the nutty taste of the sesame doesn't come through the same way.

What to serve it with

Serve it with a roasted papad or appalam. It suits a lunchbox, and it is traditionally made as prasadam.

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Ingredients