Samai Paruppu Saadam Little Millet Lentil Rice Kongu Nadu Special

Arisi paruppu sadam, or the lentil rice, is one of the popular recipes from the Kongu Nadu region of Tamil Nadu. It’s a quick one-pot meal prepared with rice and toor dal, and I replaced rice with a little millet. It’s a perfect weekday dinner or lunch box recipe that you can prepare easily in the pressure cooker. Serve it with pickle or raita or papad or any veggie curry and make a complete meal.

Kongu Nadu Cuisine

It’s hard to generalize Indian cuisine, and we all know India is known for its several regional cuisines. I am just exploring the ones from Tamil Nadu. I know I have a long way to go, but I am trying. :-) Kongu Nadu or the Kongu region is the western part of Tamil Nadu. According to the wiki, Kongu Nadu comprises the modern-day Coimbatore District, Nilgiri District, Tirupur District, Erode District, Namakkal District, Salem Karur District, Dharmapuri District, Krishnagiri District. I want to thank my friend S, who is from Udumalaipet (Kongu region), for sharing these authentic and traditional recipes. I have shared kollu kadaiyal (horsegram stew) and brinjal and cowpeas kuzhambu from the Kongu Nadu region, and here is the next one.

Arisi Paruppu Sadam with millet

All you have to do is prepare a basic tempering and saute some onion, garlic, and tomatoes. Then add the millet and toor dal along with some spices. And pressure cook them. The spices are very minimal, and you can always adjust according to your preference. I followed the recipe as mentioned by my friend and went with the same set of spices but adjusted it according to our taste preference. It doesn’t call for any veggies making it a perfect meal when you are out of veggies. :-)

Dietary specifications & serving suggestions

It’s a nut-free and vegan dish by nature. If you are not particular about vegan, you can use ghee just before serving. Skip asafoetida or use gluten-free asafoetida for a gluten-free version. You can serve it with any spicy vegetable roast like potato roast or yam roast. Or with any raita or papad or even pickle. I served it with arbi roast(yet to share here on the blog), urad dal flour raita, and papad. Now without any further ado, let me share how I made this Coimbatore special arisi paruppu sadam with little millet.

How to make samai paruppu sadam in the pressure cooker:

Wash the little millet and toor dal and soak in water for about 30 minutes and drain them.

In a pressure cooker or pressure pan, heat the oil. When the oil is hot, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds. As they start to splutter, add the hing, cloves, cinnamon, and fry for a minute. Now add the chopped garlic, onion, and curry leaves.

Cook until the onion turns translucent. Now add the chopped tomatoes, turmeric powder, red chili powder, and salt.

Mix them well and cook until the tomatoes are tender. (As we are going to pressure cook, we don’t need to cook until they turn mushy)

Now add the soaked little millet and toor dal.

Add 4 cups of water. As we like mushy consistency, I went with 4 cups of water. Check for salt and spice. If required, adjust accordingly and pressure cook for 3 to 4 whistles.

Let the pressure cool down and mix well.

Serve hot topped up with a dollop of ghee and with raita or pickle or with any spicy curry or papad. I served it with arbi roast, dangar pachadi, and papad.

Recipe Notes:

Instead of little millet, you can use rice or any other millet like kodo, foxtail, or barnyard millet.Adjust the salt, green chili, and red chili powder according to your taste.For this proportion, up to 5 garlic cloves can be added. But as per our preference, I went only with two garlic cloves.Cinnamon and cloves are optional.

Explore other millet recipes

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