Coriander Rice / Kothamalli Sadham | Indian Rice Recipes

I would always try to clean up my fridge before I go for produce shopping. I confess, I am not a "meal planner" who carefully drafts out every single meal of the week. I have a visibility and plan for two days max. After that I plan for the next two days with the leftover produce. I was going through the vegetables rack and found this little bunch of coriander leaves (cilantro) lying around hidden. I was out of most vegetables and there was nothing I could pair 'em with, so I planned for coriander rice for me and Kavin for lunch. It was done in a jiffy and tasted so good that I shared some with my neighbor. Good things are meant to be shared right?!

Ingredients:
Serves - 3; Cooking Time - 30 minutes
Rice - 1-1/2 cups (rice cooker cup)
Cilantro / Coriander leaves - 1 big bunch
Pearl onions / Sambar onions - 10 - peeled and quartered
Salt - to taste
Sesame Oil / Gingelly Oil - 1 tsp + 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Urad dhal - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - a few

For the Spice powder:

Coriander Seeds - 1 tbsp
Chana dhal - 1 tsp
Urad dhal - 1 tsp
Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp
Red chillies - 4

Method:
Wash and soak rice in water for 15 minutes. Cook with 2-3/4 cups of water until done and the grains are not sticky. Remove from heat and spread on a plate to cool. Heat 1 tsp of oil and roast the ingredients for spice powder until light brown. Allow to cool and make a fine powder. Puree the coriander leaves with a couple of tablespoons of water. Heat remaining oil in a kadai and splutter the mustard seeds, urad dhal and curry leaves. Add the onions and fry until soft followed by the ground spice powder. After half a minute add the coriander leaves puree and salt. Cook in medium flame until the paste cooks and becomes shiny. Add the cooked cooled rice little by little and mix well with a fork. Serve hot with any curry, raitha or better yet a simple pappad.
Linking this up to Taste of the Tropics - Chilis; PJ's Herbs & Flowers - Season 2.