People in some communities in Southern India, usually eat a 3-course meal for lunch everyday. Now, this information could probably make you wonder how they manage to keep slim. But that is a long story meant for another blog post.

They generally start off with rice, vegetables and a spicy tamarind sauce called “sambar“, pronounced “saaam-baaar” and made with tamarind, lentils, some vegetables and a special spice mix called, guess what? sambar powder!

My mother makes the sambar powder at home in huge quantities so she can provide a year’s supply to me and my sisters. The 2nd course is another spicy sauce in soup-like consistency made in a large variety of flavors. This is called “rasam“.

The grand finale of the meal is the most important “thair sadam” pronounced “thaaa-yir saaadam” or yogurt and rice. If one is in a hurry and has no time for the 3-course meal, the first two courses may be omitted. But no responsible Indian housewife will let her child or husband go out the door before filling their stomachs with thair sadam. It is considered the panacea of all illnesses, the most complete and healthy dish.

Now, on a day-to-day basis, South Indians will just ladle home-made yogurt onto rice, mix and eat it with some pickle or vegetable of the day. But there are times when the same bland thair sadam is made into a festive dish. Today’s recipe is this festive thair sadam. I made this with brown rice, but feel free to try it with either white or brown rice. If you’ve been following my blog so far, you’ll probably know that I am a big fan of brown rice, but this is one rice dish that I would recommend you try with white rice first, since it tastes simply fantastic!

Eat and enjoy with the crisp curried potatoes or the green beans. This recipe is dedicated to my friend, Jeff, since this is one of his favorite dishes.

Here is what you need:
1 cup cooked rice (white or brown) (make sure the rice is a bit overcooked and very tender)
1 1/2 cups thick unsweetened yogurt
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar (optional)

To Garnish:
1 tsp Olive oil
1/2 tsp black mustard seeds
1/2 tsp split, peeled urad dal (optional)
1 pinch asofoetida powder
1 habanero or jalapeno pepper (chopped fine) (optional, if you dont like spicy food)
1 sprig curry leaves

Here is how you make this:
Cool rice completely after it is cooked. Mix in the yogurt, salt and sugar. Heat oil in a pan. When oil is hot, add the mustard seeds. Wait until they crackle and add chopped habanero pepper. Fry until crisp. Now add the curry leaves. Fry until crisp. Add urad dal and brown. Add asofoetida powder and take the pan off the stove.

Pour garnish over the yogurt rice and serve with crisp curried potato or green beans.

I must confess – I am a lazy cook. But then, I must also divest myself of false modesty – to be honest, I also consider myself a good cook – as far as my family is concerned, the dishes I whip up (when I am not feeling lazy ) are usually new, usually fresh, usually different.

My family has no clue, so let me let you in on a secret: I am the queen of leftovers and the queen of redo and refresh. And this skill will come in handy to those hordes of busy, busy women, who are constantly juggling homes, babies, careers, and personal growth.

I didn’t feel like cooking something new for dinner yesterday. Alas, I also have an image to live up to. So I fished in my fridge and found a day old dish of leftover dal (Yellow Lentils). We had eaten some and there was a lot leftover because, rashly, I had asked my husband to pressure cook the dal while I was out shopping, without giving him precise instructions about quantity. He made 2 cups worth for the 3 of us and of course, there were left-overs. As left-overs go, it looked unappetizing and boring.

So, I decided to refresh the dal and give it a make-over by just adding some seasoning.

Here’s what you need:
1 cup cooked yellow dal (lentils)
1/2 cup finely grated carrots
1/2 cup finely chopped red peppers

To season:
1 tsp Olive oil
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp cummin seeds
1/4 tsp asofoetida powder

To garnish:
1 small bunch (handful) of green cilantro leaves
1/4 tsp red chili powder
1/4 tsp garam masala powder

To make:
Heat a pan and add oil. When the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds. Wait until the seeds crackle and add the cummin seeds. Brown for 10 seconds and add the asofoetida powder. Now add the chopped red peppers and stir fry for just 30 seconds. Add the dal and add some water (eyeball it to get the consistency you want for the dal) and salt. Bring to a boil and take off the flame.

Add the garnish: grated carrot, red chili powder, garam masala powder and green cilantro leaves.

Serve hot over white or brown rice.

This is the reason to season!!