Ellogarai or Ellu Sadam | Sesame seeds spiced Rice | Flavoured Rice Variant | Main Course | Festival Recipe

Ellaogarai is a classic Tamilian dish . Ogarai means flavoured / tempered rice.. Puli (tamarind) + ogarai = Puliyogarai (tamarind flavoured rice). Similarly Ellu (sesame) + ogarai = Ellogarai (sesame seeds flavoured rice).. All these tempered rice are served at South Indian Tamil Temples as prasad and also made at home during festivals and occasions. I credit my grandmom (Pati) completely for having introduced us to these delicacies..

When I saw this recipe at Sapana's blog (with whom I am paired for this BM), it brought back memories of that wonderful dish. I have tweaked Sapana's recipe based on how it is made at our home. Sapana's blog is a wonderful collection of recipes, and I was especially hooked on to her desserts and north indian section, esp the Punjabi / Delhi cuisine. Sending this to BM # 41 under bookmarked recipes (paired blogger recipes)

Prep time : 10 mins | Cook time : 20 mins | Serves : 2

Recipe Type : South Indian, Main Course / Festival recipes

(You may make this with pre-cooked and cooled rice, but as I was making it for Naivedyam / offering to God, I made the rice from scratch - either way make sure the rice is fluffed up with separate grains)

Ingredients:

• Rice - 1 cup
• Salt - to taste
• Oil - 3 TBSP (pref Sesame Oil as it gives authentic taste) 

Spice Powder:

• Til / Sesame seeds (white) - 3 TBSP
• Black Sesame seeds - 1 TBSP (optional)
• Hing / Asafoetida - a generous pinch (1/4 tsp)
• Urad Dal / Split black gram - 3 tsp
• Dry copra grated - 2 TBSP
• Channa Dal - 1 tsp
• Dry red chillies - 3 (adjust spice)
• Oil - 1 TBSP 

Tempering:

• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Urad dal - 1/2 tsp
• Cashewnuts - few
• Broken red chillies - 1 or 2 
• Curry leaves - few 

Method:

1. Cook rice, fluff it nicely and spread in a large flat plate. Drizzle 1 TBSP oil into it and leave aside.
2. In a dry pan roast the sesame seeds till it splutters (take care not to burn it). Transfer to a plate and cool. Similarly dry roast the copra (dry coconut) for 10 secs and transfer to another plate.
3. Add 1 TBSP oil, and roast the Urad Dal, Channa Dal, Red chillies one by one. Cool in a plate.
4. Grind the dals and chillies first to a coarse powder. Now add sesame seeds and copra and hing and blitz it just once in a spice grinder (dont over do it as the sesame and copra would leave behind oil) 
5.  In a non stick pan, add oil for tempering. Splutter mustard seeds, urad dal curry leaves, broken red chillies and cashewnuts. Once the cashew and urad dal turn golden brown, add the ground spice mixture and salt on a low flame. After two minutes, turn off the heat and add the cooked rice and toss well.
6.  Serve immediately or with fried papads. I served it with Pineapple Cucumber Raita for a sumptuous Sunday Brunch.