We serve Chitrannam, a platter of rice dishes, as a lunch meal for the Aadi Perukku festival that we celebrate on the 18th day of the Aadi month of the Tamil calendar. Traditionally, we prepare tamarind rice (puliyodharai), lemon rice (elumichai sadam), coconut rice (thengai sadam), and sweet Pongal (Sarkarai Pongal). You can also check out my traditional chitrannam recipes here. Nevertheless, I prefer my chitrannam platter to be colorful and flavorful. So I have prepared spicy red tomato rice, aromatic green mint rice, nutty brown sesame rice, sweet yellow candied rice, and creamy white curd rice. Besides, they are easy to prepare with commonly available ingredients and we can even pack these rice dishes for children’s lunch boxes.
Chitrannam:
It is indeed a unique lunch platter with varied colors, flavors, and textures enjoyed by both the kids and adults. I have served chitrannam with mildly-spiced brinjal-drumstick curry (kathri-murungai masala), spongy medhu vadai, and crunchy maravalli kizhangu appalam, koozh vatral & mor-milagai.
Chitrannam Recipes:
Generally, we cook the rice, prepare the spice mix (wet or dry), mix them, and then add the tempering as a garnish. Here we can use raw rice, boiled rice, basmati rice, or millets for preparing these rice dishes. I have cooked the rice by draining the starch as shown here, spread out on a large platter, and left it aside for some time. Since hot rice may turn sticky & mushy while mixing with spice mix, we need to use the rice at room temperature. You can refer to the slideshows below that are self-explanatory.
Tomato Rice (Thakkali Sadam)
Sesame Rice (Ellu Sadam)
Ellu sadam recipe:
Mint rice (Pudina Sadam)
Pudina sadam recipe:
Candied Rice (Kalkandu sadam):
Kalkandu sadam recipe:
First, we need to grind kalkandu into powder before adding it to the cooked rice.
wow a whole platter of different rice!
my kinda buffet i would pay for!
lovely food, as always!
???
Thank you so much. ?
I wish I could try all of your Rice dishes! They look amazing!
Thank you ! 🙂
How hungry I feel right now!! ??
Hahaha! Thanks for stopping by !
Pleasure 🙂
Awesome Megala!!!!
Thank you !
Sign me up! I want to try this badly
Hahaha! Glad to know that! Thanks for stopping by!
Wow this looks so delicious! ?
Thank you! 🙂
tempting!!!
Thank you!
Aadi month is full of special Auspicious days. Very nice post with a superb Menu. I feel missing hometown after seeing your post.
Thank you!
Think I may have to try making something like this!
Sounds good! Thanks for stopping by!!
This is a grand feast! Thank you for sharing so many delicacies !
Most welcome! Thanks for stopping by!
Looks so yummy
Yes it looks so, so yummy! <3
Thank you!
Thank you!
OMG, what a spread of delicacy!!!
Thank you!
I can live on this !! Aadi Maasam is sheer treat ! Loved the rice varieties
Yes, festivals galore till January, so you can expect more treats! 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!
my pleasure!
Hi! I have not been able to visit your blog: https://masalachilly.wordpress.com/ , can you please check that?
The website is http://www.masalachilli.wordpress.com not chilly. Maybe thats the reason you cant visit the blog. Please check & let me know. Thanks dear.
Yes, it is working now, but your name is linked to the misspelt address!
So delicious and great sharing!!
Thank you!
So many delightful goodies here! 🙂
🙂 Thanks!
I love Chitrannam of any kind and you have given me such a range to choose from 🙂
Thank you!
Chitrannam…interesting. Looks yummy! ?
Thank you!
One of the great rice variety!
Thank you!
So many tasty options. Hard to choose! 🙂
Thank you! 🙂
All of them are looking super yummy…awesome share Megala☺
Thanks a lot!
Oh my yum yum 🙂
Thank you!
I love them all!!! Now, I’m hungry 🙂
🙂