Sambha Aval

Did something like this ever happened to you?

You come across a recipe, its simple ingredients make you to think that the outcome won’t appeal and you skip that one. But some other day you are hungry and in a big hurry. You recall the recipe and prepare it. It amazes you with its wonderful taste.

That is exactly what happened to me when I came across the recipe for “Sambha saadham”, a rice preperation, in Meenakshi ammal’s “Samaiththu paar” (cook and see) book. As I was in a hurry to fix something for breakfast, I replaced the rice with rice flakes. It turned out to be a quick and wonderful breakfast with all the goodness of dry ginger, pepper and cumin.

The Recipe is:

Rice flakes (poha) – 2 cups
Salt – 1 1/4 teaspoon
Oil and Ghee – 8 teaspoons (Take the mixture of both, as ghee gives the aroma for this recipe. If you don’t have ghee, use butter)
Mustard seeds – 1 teaspoon
Cashew nuts – 6
Crushed pepper and cumin – 3 teaspoons
Dry ginger powder – 1 1/2 teaspoons (Freshly pounded dry ginger powder is more aromatic for this recipe. Dry roasting the roots for 5 minutes makes pounding easier)
Green chillies – 2 (chopped)
Curry leaves – 4 (chopped)

The Method:

Wash and soak the rice flakes in 3/4 cup of water. Add the salt to the water. Heat the oil and ghee mixture in a pan. Add the mustard seeds. When they splutter, add the cashew nuts. When the cashews turn brown, add the pepper,cumin and dry ginger powders along with chopped green chillies and curry leaves. Saute for few seconds and turn off the heat. Add the rice flakes and mix well.

I added peanuts along with the cashews. Added a pinch of asafedita to the seasoning oil. Garnished with Cilantro.

This is my entry for WBB#12 event hosted by Trupti.