Rice, rice baby!

    

    I was going to start this post with a curry leaf quote. I did google the same but to my disappointment, most of the quotes on curry leaves were pretty pessimistic! I am fond of curry leaves as an ingredient , probably because of the 2 years I spent in Hyderabad. Most of the dishes down there have curry leaves in them to pack a strong flavor! Wonder why would anyone write such a depressive quote about them! Google "curry leaves quotes" and you shall know what I am talking about. 

    

    Circling back to why the curry leaves rant started, I wanted to talk about Karuveppilai Sadam, also known as spiced curry leaves rice. I found this recipe and for some reason Pinterest didn't allow me to bookmark it! I figured I'll put up the recipe and it's outcome for everyone to see. If you're reading this, please do yourself a favor and make this. It's simple, easy, flavorful and absolutely delicious! I made it for lunch and had enough as leftovers; my life was sorted. Here's how we go about it. 

Ingredients 

• Rice - 1 cup 
• Curry leaves - 1 cup 
• Urad dal - 1 ½ TBSP 
• Chana dal - 1 TBSP 
• Coriander seeds - 1 tsp 
• Red chilies - 4 to 5 
• Black pepper - ½ tsp 
• Tamarind - a tiny piece 
• Asafoetida - ¼ tsp 
• Salt - to taste 
• Cooking oil - 2 tablespoon 
• Mustard seeds - 1 tsp 
• Cashew Nuts - 1 Tbsp

Let's make it :)

• Wash and dry the curry leaves well.
• In a pan, heat 1 teaspoon of oil in low flame. Add the curry leaves and mix well. Keep stirring to evenly roast the leaves. Make sure to do this in low heat. The curry leaves should not change color. It should just fry and become crispy. It will take a good 6 to 7 minutes on low flame. You will notice that the leaves start to become crunchy.
• Remove the fried curry leaves in a bowl.
• In the same pan, heat one more teaspoon of oil and fry the Urad dal, Chana dal, Coriander seeds, Red chilies and black pepper. Fry until they are aromatic. Add the Asafoetida, salt and tamarind piece at the end and fry for a minute. Turn off the the heat and then add the fried curry leaves to the pan and let the whole mixture cool down to room temperature.
• Grind the mixture to a smooth powder. You can make it very smooth or leave it a little chunky based on your preference.
• Cook the rice and let it cool down. 
• In a wide pan, heat 1 tablespoon of cooking oil and add the mustard seeds. Let the seeds crackle and then add cashews. You could also use peanuts instead of cashews for a different taste.
• Once the nuts are fried, add the cooked and cooled rice along with the ground curry leaves powder. I used ¾ of the powder that I ground. Add half of the powder and gently mix to combine. Taste and adjust the salt if needed. If needed, add more powder and mix.

This recipe is from the link below, the author has documented each step for a visual clarity and it does help.

https://www.mycookingjourney.com/karuveppilai-sadam-spiced-curry-leaves-rice/