Vepampoo Sadham | Bevina Hoovu Anna | Neem Flower Rice

How did you like the Huaqing Hot spring tour yesterday?If you have not visited it yet, hop over to my travel blog and enjoy the hot springs at a romantic locale in Xi'an China.....

After yesterday's post on Neem flowers Rasam , today I am ready with Neem flower rice. This is a simple yet flavorful rice. I remember mom making htis onften during my childhood. She used to say it was good for teh tummy and if there were any wormies inside, this rice would surely flush them out . I used to eat this rce just for this reason and soon I looked forward to mom making this for us.

You need:

Cooked rice[,grains separate] - 3 cups
Dried Neem flowers- 3 teaspoons
Sun dried chilles / More milagai - 3
Roasted groundnut - 3 tablespoons
Mustard seeds-1 teaspoon
Urad dal,white, split - 1 teaspoon
Curry leaves - a few
Ghee- 1 tablespoon
Salt to taste

1. Heat ghee on low flame in a pan. Add the neem flowers and roast it till it changes a shade darker and emits a nice arome. Drain and keep aside.
2. In the same ghee roast the more milagai till it turns brown.Keep aside.
3. To the same pan add the mustard seeds, urad dal, curry leaves and roasted groundnuts. When the urad dal turns brown, put in rice, salt ,lightly crushed more milagai and neem flowers.[Add more ghee if needed.]
4. Simmer and let the flavor belnd for a few minutes.
5. Remove from heat and serve with some crispies / chips.

Note :

• This is usually served as the first course of the meal[lunch].So its served only in small quantities.
• Ghee should be used to roast the neem flowers.Do not use oil as it will not give the desired taste to the dish.
• Adjust the quantity of neem flowers to suit your taste.
• Adding more milagai / sun dried chilli to the rice imparts a nice flavor, but you can also use green / red chilli if more milagai / sun dried chilli is not available

I have already written about Neem flowers .Check this post to know more about its medicinal properties and other recipes that can be prepared using this flower....

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#17

Bon Appetit...