Ellu Sadam | Sesame Rice

Ellu sadam or sesame rice is a simple and delicious South Indian style “variety rice” or kalanda sadam recipe prepared with roasted sesame seeds and lentils.  

A quick and easy lunchbox recipe perfect for festive occasions as well!

In my last post, I shared maa vilakku, aka edible rice flour lamp. In that, if you would have noticed, I had two bowls with some rice dishes. One was chakkarai pongal / sweet jaggery rice, and the other one is the sesame rice or the ellu sadam.

As we light maa vilakku on Saturdays for Lord Balaji, we also prepare this sesame rice along with a sweet dish. Also, during Navaratri, when we make “variety rice, ” one rice would be this sesame rice along with lemon rice, tamarind rice, or yogurt rice. 

But guess what, you don’t need any festive occasion to prepare this rice. It’s a quick and easy recipe, and you can even prepare it on a busy day morning and pack for lunch or dinner. If you are not offering this dish as neivediyam, leftover rice works perfectly. 

The recipe is straightforward. We roast urad dal, chana dal, and dried red chilies along with curry leaves. Yes, we add curry leaves also. And then add the sesame seeds and roast it. We then let it cool and grind it. Add this mix to the rice and viola – gluten-free, nut-free, and vegan sesame seed rice is ready. 

PS – I did not include any asafoetida or nuts. But you can include both. Typically we make this rice with black sesame seeds, but I used a mix of both white and black sesame seeds for today. Also, we usually don’t add any separate tempering. We roast a small amount of mustard seeds along while preparing the sesame powder. That’s about it.

How to make ellu sadam | sesame rice?

Now without any further ado, let’s get straight into the recipe. 

Cook the rice and cool it down

• Rinse the rice thoroughly and cook in your preferred way. I cooked the rice on my stove-top pressure cooker by adding double the amount of water, i.e., ⅔ cup water for three whistles. Let the pressure release and let the rice cool a bit. I got about 2.5 cups of cooked rice.
• Then spread the rice on a plate and let it cool a bit. Add 1 tsp of gingelly oil and the salt and mix it. Adding oil and salt at this stage keeps the rice nonsticky. 

Roast and prepare the sesame powder.

• Heat a pan or kadai and add the ½ tsp of oil. When the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds, urad dal, chana dal, dried red chilies, and curry leaves. 

• Roast till the urad dal and chana dal turns light brown. Now add the black and white sesame seeds and roast for 30 to 45 seconds or until the sesame seeds sputter. Then turn off the heat. Let it roast further in the residual heat. Allow this mixture to cool and grind it into a coarse powder without adding any water.

Prepare the sesame rice.

• Now add the ground sesame powder to the rice.

• Gently mix and ensure the spice powder is evenly coated. And that’s it. Sesame rice is ready. Enjoy with raita or dry curry or with papad.

Recipe Notes

• Adjust the salt and dried red chilies as per your taste. 
• Roasting curry leaves and grinding it along with sesame adds a nice flavor. So do try it.
• We add an equal amount of white and black sesame seeds. You can add either one. But in our household, we always make this rice with black sesame seeds or with a combination not with white sesame seeds only. 
• Let the rice cool before adding the spice powder. 
• You can use quinoa, brown rice, millets, or any other rice variety instead of raw rice. 
• If you can’t source curry leaves, skip it. Yes, there is a slight change in flavor, but there is no substitute for curry leaves. 
• I did not add any nuts. You can add 2 tbsps roasted peanuts or cashew nuts.
• I did not add any separate tempering for this rice. 

PS – If you try this sesame rice, please don’t forget to comment and rate this recipe. If you have any questions, please leave a comment, and I will get to it asap.  Make sure to follow me on my Pinterest for more healthy and delicious ideas! Follow me on Instagram or join my Facebook Group for more gardening and recipe updates.

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5 from 4 votes

Ellu Sadam | Sesame Rice

Ellu sadam or sesame rice is a simple and delicious South Indian style “variety rice” recipe prepared with roasted sesame seeds and lentils.

Prep Time5 mins

Cook Time5 mins

Rice cooking time + cooling time40 mins

Course: Entree

Cuisine: South Indian

Servings: 4

Calories: 53kcal

Author: Srividhya G

Equipment

• Saucepan or kadai
• Instant Pot or Pressure Cooker to cook the rice
• Mixer jar or coffee grinder

Ingredients

• ▢ ⅓ cup rice I used sona masoori raw rice
• ▢ ⅔ cup water
• ▢ ¾ tsp salt or to taste
• ▢ 1 tsp gingelly oil

To roast and grind

• ▢ ½ tsp corn oil or any other cooking oil
• ▢ ⅛ tsp mustard seeds optional
• ▢ ½ tsp chana dal
• ▢ 1 tsp urad dal
• ▢ 2 dried red chilies
• ▢ 10 curry leaves
• ▢ 1 tsp black sesame seeds
• ▢ 1 tsp white sesame seeds

Instructions

Cook the rice and cool it down

• Rinse the rice thoroughly and cook in your preferred way. I cooked the rice on my stove-top pressure cooker by adding double the amount of water, i.e., ⅔ cup water for three whistles. Let the pressure release and let the rice cool a bit. I got about 2.5 cups of cooked rice.
• Then spread the rice on a plate and let it cool a bit. Add 1 tsp of gingelly oil and the salt and mix it. Adding oil and salt at this stage keeps the rice nonsticky.

Roast and prepare the sesame powder.

• Heat a pan or kadai and add the ½ tsp of oil. When the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds, urad dal, chana dal, dried red chilies, and curry leaves.
  
• Roast till the urad dal and chana dal turns light brown. Now add the black and white sesame seeds and roast for 30 to 45 seconds or until the sesame seeds sputter. Then turn off the heat. Let it roast further in the residual heat. Allow this mixture to cool and grind it into a coarse powder without adding any water.
  

Prepare the sesame rice.

• Now add the ground sesame powder to the rice.
  
• Gently mix and ensure the spice powder is evenly coated. And that’s it. Sesame rice is ready. Enjoy with raita or dry curry or with papad.
  

Notes

• Adjust the salt and dried red chilies as per your taste.
• Roasting curry leaves and grinding it along with sesame adds a nice flavor. So do try it.
• We add an equal amount of white and black sesame seeds. You can add either one. But in our household, we always make this rice with black sesame seeds or with a combination not with white sesame seeds only.
• Let the rice cool before adding the spice powder.
• You can use quinoa, brown rice, millets, or any other rice variety instead of raw rice.
• If you can’t source curry leaves, skip it. Yes, there is a slight change in flavor, but there is no substitute for curry leaves.
• I did not add any nuts. You can add 2 tbsps roasted peanuts or cashew nuts. Also, I did not add any separate tempering for this rice.

Nutrition

Calories: 53kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 440mg | Potassium: 72mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 309IU | Vitamin C: 82mg | Calcium: 23mg | Iron: 1mg

I am not a nutritionist. The nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It varies depending upon the product types or brands.

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Submitting this post for the Blogging Marathon #117. You can check out the participant details and their recipes at this link.