Vetrilai Sadam | Betel leaves Rice | Vetrilai Poondu Sadam with Unique Homemade Magic Spice Mix

Vetrilai Sadam/Sadham | Vetrilai Poondu Sadam | Betel leaves Rice recipe is a kind of variety rice prepared out of medicinal herb Betel leaves along with garlic and an aromatic spice mix.

Betel leaves are inseparable from India as chewing Betel leaves with Arceanut has been a part of Indian culture for many known years. This purely medicinal herb is known for its rich calcium content. The super anti-inflammatory property and the antioxidants present makes the betel leaves super powerful in the 'herbs world'.

The culinary industry, though uses the leaves in myriad recipes, Sweet Paan is the popular betel leaves recipe which just gives a flavour blast in the mouth with many colourful and interesting ingredients. If you are interested in the 'no fancy' Herbal Sweet Paan recipe, I recommend visiting my Sweet Paan post which just uses four home-available ingredients and is super healthy with natural flavour bombing inside the mouth.

Betel leaves rice is yet another recipe that sits on the savoury side that would serve as a healthy lunch. Some people just use garlic and pepper along with betel leaves to end up with simple betel leaves rice recipe. In the Kongunadu region, people make this rice with the spice mix prepared out of fennel seeds, cumin seeds and black peppercorns. 

I had made a series of experiments and was ending up with an amazingly aromatic spice mix that lifts the Vetrilai Sadam taste to the next level. You can expect more from this simply super recipe both health-wise and taste-wise. Along with the aroma of the betel leaves, the homemade spice mix just starts to do some magic for real, and make us say WOW! for sure.

Unlike the usual betel leaves rice recipe, my version stands very unique with the bold flavour of betel leaves, subtle flavour of garlic and an amazingly powerful aroma from the homemade spice mix which I should say, the Magic Spice Mix.

So, Who plays a unique role in my Magic Spice Mix?

• The magic spice mix uses black peppercorns, cumin seeds and fennel seeds along with a teaspoon of super flavourful Ajwain seeds. 
• And, yes! the Black stone flower along with cinnamon and cloves are used in making the best betel leaves rice recipe.
• When you dry roast all the ingredients together with a handful of curry leaves, here is where the magical aroma starts to seep out. 
• Once the magical ingredients are powdered, you get a fully aroma-packed spice mix to let the magic happen to your betel leaves rice.
• The crushed coriander seeds, though not added to the spice mix, would then get them added to the tempering. Keep in mind, we need this guy in the crushed form, and definitely not in the powdered form, to better get the flavour then and there while consuming.

Don't get too much excited and don't dare to add more betel leaves while preparing the rice. There are certain do's and don'ts to follow to get the nice aromatic betel leaves rice. When more betel leaves are added, the bold flavoured guy would  just knock you out and the overpowering flavour would make the dish horrible.

So, What to do and what not to do?

• Pick a fresh, small, light green tint of betel leaves while making betel leaves rice.
• The matured dark green tint of leaves could be very bold in flavour and so, limit them in quantity while adding them.
• For every 100 grams of rice, two betel leaves are what I suggest to put  the right amount of flavour into the recipe. If you use mature leaf with a strong flavour, one big leaf would suffice to satisfy our need.

Which rice to use?

• The taste would be much great when the flavourful rice kinds like Basmati rice and Seeraga Samba rice is used.
• Another option is to use good quality raw rice. You can use the Sona Masoori variety.
• Or simply, you can use parboiled rice which you use daily for your lunch. 

For a weekday lunch, you can go with normal parboiled rice or raw rice which offer no noticeable flavour. For a special weekend lunch, go for any flavourful rice which with the magic spice mix would go well and become an unforgettable special lunch.

Furthermore, the addition of Peanuts and Cashews are the highlights which I suggest not to skip. Using ghee amps up the taste, nonetheless, peanut oil can also be used. The prepared spice mix is enough for making 500 grams of betel leaves rice. Store the remaining spice mix in an air-tight container and enjoy adding it the next time you prepare Vetrilai Sadam.

The simple recipe would probably turn out to be the best and special recipe when some magical ingredients come into play. This Betel leaves rice is one such recipe that excels in taste, flavour and health with the perfectly chosen Spices. The happy news is, this gets digested easily making the tummy super happy.

Go ahead and make this healthful recipe for loved ones. But, never forget to come back and post your valuable comments here. Let's move on to the making procedure of Betel leaves Rice recipe.

Have you tried this recipe?

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⏲ Preparation Time: 10 minutes
⏲ Cooking Time: 15 minutes
⏲ Total Time: 25 minutes

🍴 Servings: 3 to 4

Vetrilai Sadam | Betel leaves Rice

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The healthy and aromatic variety rice prepared out of medicinal herb betel leaves along with garlic, ajwain seeds and other such magical spices.

What do you need? [1 cup = 150ml]

For Spice Mix:

• Black peppercorns - 1 tbsp
• Fennel seeds - 1 tbsp
• Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
• Black sesame seeds - 2 tsp
• Ajwain seeds - 1 tsp
• Black stone flower - a small piece
• Cinnamon stick - 1-inch piece
• Cloves - 4
• Curry leaves - 2 sprigs

For Vetrilai Sadam:

• Ghee - 1 tbsp (or peanut oil - 1 tbsp)
• Fennel seeds - 1 tsp
  
• Garlic cloves - 5 to 6 (finely chopped)
• Dried red chillies - 2
• Peanuts, cashews - 2 tbsp
• Betel leaves - 3
  
• Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
• Crushed coriander seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Boiled rice - 1 cup
• Salt - 1/2 tsp (or adjust to taste)
• Spice Mix - 1 tbsp
  

Steps Involved:

• Dry roast all the ingredients under "For Spice Mix" until the aroma seeps out.
• Cool them down and blend into a coarse powder to get the Spice Mix ready.
• To a pan, add ghee and add in the fennel seeds and the chopped garlic.
• Add dried red chillies, peanuts, cashews and roast well.
• Add in the chopped betel leaves and saute until the leaves start to wilt.
• Add turmeric powder, crushed coriander seeds and the prepared spice mix.
• Add boiled rice, season with salt and mix well until the rice is fully coated with the magic spice mix.
• The aromatic herb rice is ready to be served.
  

Visual Treat: 

 Video link for "Vetrilai Sadam | Betel leaves Rice" post:

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For comforting the easy understandability of the recipe, the step by step detailed procedure, along with the picture is shown below:

Step-by-Step Procedure with Pictures

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How to Make?

For Magic Spice Mix:

• Add black peppercorns, fennel seeds, cumin seeds, black sesame seeds and ajwain seeds to a pan.

• Add the cinnamon stick, cloves and a piece of black stone flower. The black stone flower, also known as Kalpasi is a medicinal spice that amps up the taste of the rice.

• Add the curry leaves to the same pan.

• Dry roast all the ingredients until the aroma starts to come out.

• Cool the ingredients completely, and blend to a coarse powder. The aromatic magic spice mix is ready now!

For Betel leaves rice:

•  In a pan, add a tablespoon of ghee. Adding ghee makes the betel leaves rice more flavoursome. Despite ghee, you can add a tablespoon of peanut oil or gingelly oil. Add a teaspoon of fennel seeds to the shimmering ghee. Add the chopped garlic cloves. More garlic, more flavoursome the rice would be! Break 2 dried red chillies into half and add to the pan. Add the cashews and peanuts now. Adding nuts truly delight you while eating. You can skip cashews and add only the peanuts. Roast all the ingredients well.

• Chop betel leaves into small pieces and add to the pan. Saute until the leaves start to wilt.

• Now add turmeric powder, crushed coriander seeds and the spice mix. Do not saute for more than 5 seconds as the masala may burn.

• Cook the rice in a pot or pressure cooker. Fluff up the rice once cooled down. Make sure the rice is not cooked mushy.
  
• Add the perfectly boiled rice into the pan.

• Season with the needed salt.

• With the help of a fork or spatula, carefully mix the rice with the masala until the rice is completely coated with the masala ingredients.

• Wow! The aromatic herb rice "Vetrilai Sadham" is now ready to get plated. Enjoy the burst of flavours!

Tips:

• The matured betel leaves could have a very bold flavour which sometimes would be overpowering. If using matured leaves, limit the number of betel leaves to two for each 100gms of rice.
• Crush the coriander seeds and add. The crushed seeds own more flavour than the powdered ones.
• The mushy rice may spoil the taste of the dish. Perfectly cook and fluff up the rice before you add.
• Use flavourful rice varieties like Basmati or Seeraga Samba to make the recipe more special and flavoursome.
  

Extra Healthy! Super Aromatic!