Ellu Saadham | Ellu Ogre | Sesame flavored Rice

Ellu means Sesame in Tamil and Kannada while it is called as Nuvvulu in Telugu and Til in Hindi /Marathi/Gujarati.

Sesame seeds have a very distinct and nutty flavor and adds a lot of flavor to any dish that makes use of these seeds .

Tamil Nadu cuisines extensively use Gingelly oil or Til oil in the day today cooking while Karnataka , Andhra cuisines use them in their spice powders as flavoring agent. Gujarati cuisine uses Til as tempering and garnish for various delicacies. 

Today we shall see a very traditional recipe ; Ellu Saadham / Ellu Ogre  made in most Tamil and Kannadiga homes mainly as an offering to Lord Balaji .

Saadham means Rice in Tamil so Ellu Saadham literally means Sesame Rice .

Ogre in kannada is flavored rice, so again literally translated,Ellu Ogre also means the same as mentioned above .

A very flavorful spice powder is freshly roasted and ground and is mixed with pre cooked rice along with a tempering of mustard seeds , curry leaves and fried peanuts.

Ellu saadham is made on days like Aadi 18 , Kanu Pandigai and most importantly during Purataasi Saturdays when we offer Maav Vilakku to Lord Srinivasa .

Preparation Time - 30 mins

Cooking Time - 45 mins

Serves : 2-3

Complexity: Medium

Ingredients
150 gms rice
2 tablespoon udad dhall
2 tablespoon channa dhall
1 tablespoon  white sesame seeds/til /ellu
3-4 dry red chillies
1 tsp pepper
Pinch of asafoetida
Gingelly oil as needed
Salt to taste
Handful of groundnuts
Few curry leaves
1 tsp mustard seeds

Method

• Wash the rice well and pressure cook it with enough water such that the rice is separate and fluffy after cooking. 
• Spread the hot rice on a big plate and pour about 2 tsp gingelly oil over the rice and let is cool .
• In a dry pan , first dry roast the sesame seeds until it starts popping and gives out a fragrant aroma . Remove it from the kadai and keep aside on a plate for cooling. 
• Now heat about 1 tsp oil and fry the udad + channa dhall until crisp and golden brown , followed by red chillies and pepper corn.  Add some asafoetida/hing. Let the roasted ingredients cool down .
• First blend the roasted  lentils and chilli in a mixie jar until it is turned into a fine powder. 
• Add the roasted sesame and give a quick pulse.Do not run the mixie for a long time as the sesame seeds will give out oil and the entire spice powder will become pasty .
• In another pan , heat some gingelly oil and fry the peanuts followed by the mustard seeds and curry leaves. 
• Pour this tempering over the hot rice and spread the freshly ground spice powder and salt on the rice and mix it well with a spoon .
• Donot use your hands to mix as it will get spoilt in case you plan to use it sometime later in the day or packing for lunch or some picnic.
• Adjust salt if needed and also add some more spice powder if you need a little more spice .
• Enjoy it with some chilled curd and some papads or fryums .

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