Nuvullu Annam (Sesame Flavored Rice)

Sesame flavored rice or Nuvullu Annam is a light flavored rice delicacy, enriched with nutrients from seasame seeds and Indian spices.This dish is simple unlike a pampered biryani, in the fact that the main ingredient is only sesame seeds with the infusion of spices like curry leaves and mustard seeds in the tempering. Sesame seeds have no aroma but the flavor intensifies by lightly dry roasting the seeds giving it a sweet and nutty taste.

Nuvullu Annam (Seasame Flavoured Rice)
Ingredients:

2 cups of cooked white rice (each grain should be separate)
2-3 green chillis slit length wise
1 1/2 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
1 tsp mustard seeds
15-20 curry leaves (fresh leaves only)
1/2 tsp Bengal gram (senaga pappu,channa dal) (optional)
2-3 dry whole red chillis (you can add more if you want more spice)
1 tbsp coriander seeds
¼ cup of seasame seeds (dry roast the seeds in a pan for a few minutes on medium heat tossing them around and make a coarse powder and dont grind them too much…the nutrients of sesame seeds are better absorbed if they are ground)
salt to taste

Dry roast the red chillis and coriander seeds in a pan for 4-5 minutes on medium heat tossing them about till the flavours come out and make a fine powder.Keep aside.
Heat ghee in a pan and add the mustard seeds and let them splutter.Add Bengal gram and let it turn brown.Add the curry leaves and green chillis and fry for a few seconds till the leaves turn a little crisp and the flavours blend in the oil.The curry leaves along with seasame give an aromatic flavor to this dish and that is why the recipe calls for a wee bit more leaves than usual..:)
Add the red chilli pwd,coriander pwd, seasame powder and salt and combine.
Add the cooked rice and combine it such that the spices coat the rice well.
Serve hot with any gravy curry or plain rasam and appadam(papad).

Note: You can use red chilli pwd and coriander pwd instead of whole chillis and coriander seeds. But the best flavour is derived from dry roasting the whole spices and grinding them fresh. There is no substitute to that.Another piece of advice… If you don’t have fresh curry leaves on hand,I suggest you prepare this rice only when you have fresh leaves as the dry ones don’t give out that unique aroma and flavour which only the fresh ones impart.Remember its always the freshest ingredients that bring out the best of Indian cooking.