Dill Rice - A nutritious rice speciality

Dill, or sabsige soppu as we call it in kannada, is a flavored herb, and used in a variety of dishes. I recently found that it has many nutritional values...

• Dill contains numerous plant derived chemical compounds that are known to have anti-oxidant, disease preventing and health promoting properties.
• This popular herb contains no cholesterol; but is rich in anti-oxidants and dietary fibers which helps to control blood cholesterol levels.
• The essential oil, Eugenol, in the dill has been found to reduce blood sugar levels in diabetics, however, further detailed studies required to establish its role.
• Dill oil, extracted from dill seeds has anti-spasmodic, carminative, digestive, disinfectant, galactagogue (helps breast milk secretion), sedative properties.
• It is also rich in many vital vitamins including folic acid, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin A, beta carotene, vitamin-C that are essential for optimum health and helps body to protect from lung and oral cavity cancers.
• Fresh dill is an excellent source of antioxidant vitamin; vitamin-C. Vitamin-C helps body develop resistance against infectious agents and scavenge harmful, pro-inflammatory free radicals.
• Dill weed is a good source of minerals like copper, potassium, calcium, manganese, iron, and magnesium.

Source : http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/dill-weed.html

Dill has all the characters to consider it has one of the most valuable functional food. Then why not use this nutritious herb and make a delicious rice item!

Got this recipe from mom - she apparently learnt it recently, experimented it and then told me about it. And I, wanting to try out something new, tried it out, and it came out beyond my expectation! The spice powder used here is something that one can find stocked in our kitchen shelf at any time, so that made it easier for me. Nevertheless, it is not a great task to make the spice powder fresh, and it is really worth it. And once made, it can be stored for a couple of months too.

Dill Rice

Preparation time : 10 min Cooking time : 15 min Serves : 4 -5 Ingredients: For Spice powder: (makes spice powder to make Dill rice 3-4 times) Chana dal - 1 tbsp Urad dal - 1 tbsp Red chilies - 20 - 25 (preferably byadagi variety) Coriander seeds - 2 tbsp Cinnamon - 2-3 one inch sticks Cloves - 8-10 Maratha Moggu - 2-3 Cardamon - 3-4 For Dill Rice: Dill leaves (Sabsige soppu) - 2 small bunches Cooking oil - 1 tbsp Tamarind pulp - 2 tsp Salt - 1 tsp, adjust acc to taste Spice powder - 2 tsp Jaggery - 1 small marble sized ball Rice - 2 cups For tempering: Cooking oil - 1 tbsp Mustard seeds - 1 tsp Groundnut seeds - 1 tbsp Chana dal - 2 tsp Urad dal - 2 tsp Curry leaves - 2-3 strands Turmeric - 1 pinch Method: Spice powder • Dry roast all the ingredients • Allow to cool for 5 minutes • Grind them into slightly coarse powder • This can be made in larger quantity and preserved for a couple of months Tempering • Heat oil in a pan • Add mustard seeds and allow to sputter • Turn the heat low, add groundnut seeds, and stir • After the groundnuts are half-done, add chana dal and urad dal • Add curry leaves and stir for half a minute till all the ingredients are properly roasted. Keep aside till needed. Dill rice • Wash rice, soak in water for 10 minutes • Cook rice in pressure cooker or in microwave by adding about 4 cups of water (quantity of water should be adjusted depending on the variety of rice)• Pick the dill leaves, wash thoroughly and chop into small pieces • In a heavy bottomed pan, heat 1 tbsp oil • Add the chopped dill leaves, and stir every 2 minutes for about 10 minutes • Ensure it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. It takes a while to cook thoroughly. • Once the dill leaves are cooked, add tamarind pulp, salt, jaggery and 2 tsp of spice powder prepared • Stir for another 5 minutes till the mixture becomes slightly dry • Spread the cooked rice in a wide pan, cool slightly and mix in the dill mixture and tempering • Mix thoroughly using hands, so that the dill is evenly mixed into rice • Serve it warm, or by heating slightly, optionally along with any raita Variations: • The same can be prepared with methi leaves too