Su's Recipes: Thengai Sadam

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Thengai Sadam is a famously known coconut flavored Rice dish from Tamilnadu Cuisine. This dish is also liked and cooked in other coastal states of India; where coconut cultivation is in abundance. Coconut has a nutty sweet flavor and gives a creamy texture to the dish. Fresh coconut enhances taste to the dish and overpowers with its unique flavor and taste; which makes Thengai Sadam to acquire its complete taste.

In olden days during small get-together or functions usually, three types of flavored rice used to be served. Preferably one of them being the coconut rice, and the other one was curry leaves rice or season specific flavored rice, which may include flavors of mango or lemon. These rice recipes are color specific, coconut rice being white, curry leaves rice is green and of course the last one lemon rice or mango rice, which is yellow in color due to addition of turmeric.

Thengai Sadam is truly a exotic dish for foodies; who like the mouthful flavor of coconut in every bite and love to relish on this no-frills easy to make dish.

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Traditional coconut grater

Ingredients:

1. Cooked Rice - 2 cups

2. Fresh grated coconut - 1 to 1 1/4 cup

3. Mustard seeds - 2 tsp.

4. Bengal gram/Channa dal - 1 tbsp.

5. Black gram/Urad dal - 1 tbsp.

6. Curry leaves - few

7. Green Chillies - 5 to 6 nos.

8. Cashews - 2 tbsp. (split the whole cashews into 4 pieces)

9. Asafoetida - a pinch (optional)

10. Salt to taste

11. Oil or clarified butter/ghee or both combined - 1 to 2 tbsp.

Cooking Method:

1. The cooked rice should be warm, if hot, place it onto a wide plate (preferably a wooden plate) to cool it; so that the rice grains are separated.

2. Heat oil in a deep bottomed pan, add mustard seeds. Once the mustard seeds splutters, add asafoetida, black gram, bengal gram and cook it on simmer; until a nice aroma is formed and changes the color to light brown. Add curry leaves, green chilies, cashews and saute this for a min.

3. Add cooked rice, salt into pan and blend it. Finally add grated coconut giving it a thorough mix and switch off the flame immediately.

4. Serve warm bowl of coconut-flavored rice with mint chutney/dip.

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Note:

1. While grating the coconut, take only the white portion and scrap out the brown layer. Traditional coconut grater finely grates and leaves the brown layer.

2. Do not let the coconut to be cooked with the rice, as cooking for little more time might change the color of the grated coconut and that may reflect on overall dish.

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