This is a quite famous preparation from Kongunadu, i.e Coimabtore area of Tamilnadu. The recipe is so simple and can be done in a jiffy. Made with rice and toor dhal, as the name suggests, the spice is added to the rice by adding sambar powder. When you don’t have any vegetable to work with, this rice is an easy one pot meal to make. Serve it with appalam and pickles and you are done with a hearty meal. This is for the one pot meals theme I have chosen for the week.
This is one of the dishes I made for my daughter during vacations. As I don’t usually make her lunch during school days, she waits for vacation days to ask for her favourite recipes. I also plan recipes for the blog during vacations as it becomes easy for me to feed her as well. I made this in pressure cooker but you can also opt to make it on open pan. I used to be really scared to make rice in pressure cookers, as they always end up mushy. But after reading Srividya’s post on how to cook using pressure cooker, I think I have got a hang of it. I made rice two days in a row without them turning mushy. Yay! And this rice, my daughter appreciated it so much.
Ingredients:
Rice – 1 cup
Toor Dal / Thuvaram Paruppu – 1/4 cup
Ghee – 2 tbs
Mustard Seeds – 1/2 tsp
Cumin Seeds – 1/2 tsp
Onion – 1
Tomato – 1
Sambar Powder – 1 tsp
Turmeric Powder – 1/4 tsp
Salt – to taste
Coriander Leaves For Garnish
Water – 2.5 cups
Procedure:
Mix rice and dal, wash it and soak for 30 minutes.
Heat ghee in a pressure cooker.
Add cumin seeds and mustard seeds. When they crackle add in the onions.
Saute until golden.
Add tomatoes, sambar powder, turmeric powder and salt.
Saute on low flame until the tomato is mushy.
Drain the soaked rice and dal and add it.
Saute for a minute on low flame.
Finally add water and wait until it starts boiling.
Cover the cooker and add the weight.
Wait until it whistles thrice.
Switch off flame and wait for the pressure to release.
Once the pressure in the cooker is gone, remove the lid, give a nice stir and serve immediately topped with chopped coriander leaves.

Arisi Paruppu Saadam Recipe - Kovai Special Variety Rice
Ingredients
- Rice - 1 cup
- Toor Dal / Thuvaram Paruppu - 1/4 cup
- Ghee - 2 tbs
- Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp
- Cumin Seeds -1 /2 tsp
- Onion - 1
- Tomato-1
- Sambar Powder - 1 tsp
- Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
- Salt - to taste
- Coriander Leaves for garnish
- Water - 2.5 cups
Instructions
- Mix rice and dal, wash it and soak for 30 minutes.
- Heat ghee in a pressure cooker.
- Add cumin seeds and mustard seeds. When they crackle add in the onions.
- Saute until golden.
- Add tomatoes, sambar powder, turmeric powder and salt.
- Saute on low flame until the tomato is mushy.
- Drain the soaked rice and dal and add it.
- Saute for a minute on low flame.
- Finally add water and wait until it starts boiling.
- Cover the cooker and add the weight.
- Wait until it whistles thrice.
- Switch off flame and wait for the pressure to release.
- Once the pressure in the cooker is gone, remove the lid, give a nice stir and serve immediately topped with chopped coriander leaves.
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Bookmarked. This is a nice quick meal. My daughter loves dal rice and this would be perfect to make in her apartment at college.
This is my favorite too, I have made it a couple of times and enjoyed the quick dish..very nice one!
Lots of varieties i found in sadam during BM.. wow but ur dish looks so inviting and comforting.
Its so looks like the khichdi I make. Easy to make, healthy and nutritious.
super easy and simple version of sambar sadam
The first look of this picture and you are drooling. It’s lunch time here and I want that plate now. Addition of sambhar powder will give it a distinct flavour. Awesome
Comforting meal for me.. I just love this Kovai special arisi paruppu sadam anytime of the day. This dish is simply fabulous and a prefect traditional one pot meal.
My kids love this rice , though I have never added sambar powder. I’m sure its addition must have enhanced the flavor of dish.
a simple yet flavorful rice dish to compliment any meal
My husband is from CBE but has never talked about this recipe. I need to make it for him once to see if he remembers. Love the comforting flavors of the dish.
I also cook rice dishes in pressure cooker itself but need to learn how to cook in open pans. This is one simple yet delicious one-pot meal and glad to know Shruti likes it.