Iyengars are a sect of the Brahmin Community who follow the Vaishnava Tradition i.e. followers of Lord Vishnu and his incarnations commonly referred to as Perumal.
Kadamba Saadham (Kadamba/Kadhambam means Mixed and Saadham means Rice ) loosely translated as Mixed Rice. This is a delicacy primarily from the Iyengar Kitchen offered as prasadam to Perumal.
There is always a misunderstanding that Kadamba Saadham is more or less same as Bisi Bele Baath or Sambar Saadham but the answer is NO.
Kadamaba Saadham is made using all native vegetables like Broad Beans,Raw Banana,Ash Gourd(white pumpkin),Clustered beans,Brinjals and DEVOID of Onion,garlic,corriander leaves,Garam Masalas like cinnamon,cloves,elaichi etc.
In temples they avoid using potatoes and carrots as well,but in today's recipe I have included them as all the native vegetables are not relished by my family. Also , this is very much vegan as til oil (Sesame oil) is used for sauteing and tempering .
We can add boiled kabuli channa /kondakadalai/chick peas ,Karamani/Lobia , Black Channa and Peanuts too .
I have seen variations where in even paruppu urundais are added to this kadamba saadham.I have not tried that so far hence I am not including that in this recipe.
As it makes use of native vegetables ,even Jains can make and relish this south indian main course.
The highlight of this recipe, is the addition of fried sun dried turkey berries/sundakkai as garnish .
Jain Version : Make use of vegetables like White Pumpkin,Broad Beans(Sem ki fali),Clusterd Beans(Gavaar),Raw Banana (Kaccha Kela),Surti Lilva,Lobia.
Preparation Time : 20 mins
Cooking Time : 40-45 mins
Serves : 4-5 people generously
Complexity: Medium
Ingredients
1.5 cups rice (1 cup =200-220 grams)
1/2 cup thoor dhall
Mixed vegetables cut in cubes
(this recipe uses : 1 potato,2 small carrots, 150 gms white pumpkin,50 gms beans)
1/2 cup boiled lobia
1/2 cup boiled avarekaalu/mochakottai/peas
Handful of soaked groundnuts
few curry leaves
2-3 tablespoon gingely/til/nallennai/sesame oil (distributed use)
2 tsp ghee (optional)
1/2 tsp turmeric
pinch of asafoetida
salt to taste
2 cups tamarind extract (soak lemon sized tamarind in hot water and extract the juice from the pulp and filter it)
2 -3 tsp jaggery powdered
Handful of sundakkai/turkey berries - fried
to grind
1/2 tsp methi seeds
2 tsp udad dhall
2 tsp channa dhall
1 tablespoon dhania /corriander seeds
4-5 dry red chillies
1 tsp pepper corns
few curry leaves
3 tablespoon fresh grated coconut
Method
- Pressure cook the rice and dhall together with haldi until its soft and mushy.
- Mash the rice and dhall well by adding some ghee and 1 tblspoon gingelly oil until it is mushy well and keep aside. You may add some hot water if you find it tough to mash.
- In a kadai,heat about a tsp of oil, and roast all the ingredients under the "to grind" section in the same order as mentioned until the dhals turn slightly golden brown and the other ingredients turn crisp.
- Cool and grind into a semi fine powder and keep aside.
- In a big vessel,heat some gingely oil,temper mustard seeds,curry leaves and add all the vegetables,saute well,add turmeric ,salt and about 1 cup water and let the vegetables cook until its half done.
- Now,add the tamarind extract,jaggery,2 cups of water and bring it to a rolling boil till the raw flavor of tamarind is lost.
- Add the boiled lobia,groundnuts, peas and mochakottai at this stage.
- Add the ground masala powder,adjust the salt ,put in the mashed rice and dhall well so that its all mixed well without any lumps ,add about half cup water if its too thick and cook covered for 3-4 minutes.
- Turn off the stove, add the fried turkey berries/sundakkai and drizzle some raw gingelly oil . serve hot with fried papads or vadams.
Photos and write up have been updated as part of Redoing the old post activity . The post was originally published on 2017 and now has been given a face-lift (2 Jun 2023) by adding some bright and new set of pictures and some extra information. The recipe (ingredients +method) remains unchanged .
Pin me up !!
