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Saamai Manathakkali Keerai Sadham - Little Millet Black Nightshade leaves Rice - Easy Lunch Recipes

Saamai manathakkali keerai rice is a healthy one pot rice that takes just 20 minutes with easily available ingredients. 

This rice consists of little millets (saamai rice), black nightshade greens (manathakkali keerai), small onions, tomato, garlic, moong dal and my secret masala powder. I use little millets in this recipe, you can also use Kodo millet or barnyard millet which also tastes good. You may also use regular ponni rice, but you need to adjust the water and cooking time. Before you start to cook this rice together, you need to prepare the masala powder for the rice. Chana dal, cumin, pepper, red chilli, curry leaves and coconut are dry roasted for a few minutes and then coarsely powdered in a mixer jar. Manthakkali leaves are easy to separate from the stem when compared to other greens. Once the chopping works and the roasting works are ready, saute everything together in a pressure cooker. To add protein, I used split moong dal as it tastes good with manathakkali leaves. This is also a great recipe to pack for lunch. Serve this rice with any roasts like vazhakkai roast or potato roast. If you make this rice ahead of time, I recommend transferring the rice immediately to another dish will be good because millets will turn mushy when left as it is in the pressure cooker. If you are packing for your lunch box, cool them for 10 minutes and then pack it. Now let's see how to prepare Saamai Manathakkali Keerai rice with step by step instructions.

Rice Varieties



Saamai Manathakkali Keerai Sadham - Little Millet Black Nightshade leaves Rice Recipe Details

Prep time : 10 minutes
Cook time : 20 minutes
Serves : 4
Category : rice varieties
Author : Muthulakshmi Madhavakrishnan

Ingredients 

  • 200 grams little millet
  • 1.5 cups chopped manathakkali keerai
  • 10 small onions, finely chopped 
  • 1 tomato, finely chopped
  •  5 garlic cloves, finely chopped 
  • 1/4 tsp pepper 1/4 tsp cumin
  • 1/2 tsp chana dal
  • few coconut pieces 
  • 2 red chilly curry leaves 
  • 1.5 tbsp moong dal 
  • 1/2 tsp mustard and urid dal 
  • 2 tsp ghee
  • 2 tbsp oil 
  • Salt to taste 

Cooking Directions 

Gather all the ingredients required to make the rice. Heat a pan and add pepper, cumin, chana dal, red chilly, curry leaves and coconut pieces. Dry roast for a few minutes until you get a nice aroma and turn off the heat. Transfer it to a mixer jar and powder them coarsely.


Rinse the little millets two or three times or until the water becomes clear and drain the water completely. 

Heat oil in a pressure cooker and add mustard and urid dal. Allow them to crackle and add the chopped onions. Saute for a few seconds and add the garlic cloves. 


Next, add the tomatoes and saute well for a few minutes. You can also add ground tomatoes which give a nice colour and taste. 


Add the chopped manathakkali leaves and stir well. When the leaves wilt, add the coarsely ground mixture. Next add water. (For 1 cup little millet add 1.5 cups water).




Now add turmeric powder, moong dal and required salt. Mix well and add the rinsed rice. Reduce the heat to low and close it with the lid. Pressure cook for 3 whistles and turn off the heat. A.low the pressure to release naturally and open the pressure cooker. 




Add ghee and fluff it up with a ladle. Every variety of millet is different. Usually, I add 1.5 cups of water for 1 cup millets which worked for me and tasted good with the correct texture. Adjust the timing according to your pressure cooker settings and variety of millet you use. 



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