Paruppu Sadam

Rice and toor dal cooked together — raw rice and toor dal rinsed and pressure-cooked in the ratio of approximately two to one with turmeric and salt, mashed to a porridge-like consistency and finished with a generous pour of ghee. The simplest and most fundamental preparation in Tamil Brahmin cooking; made daily for infants, the elderly, and anyone who is unwell, considered the most easily digestible and nourishing meal. Eaten with mor kuzhambu, pickle, or just more ghee. The quality of the ghee — ideally home-churned from curd — is the single variable that distinguishes a remarkable paruppu sadam from a merely adequate one. The preparation that every Tamil Brahmin learns to cook first.