Vempampoo Rice | Blackrice with Neem flowers

Vempampoo Rice | Blackrice with Neem flowers

Vempampoo or dried neem flowers are generally used in various tamil cooking recipes. Blackrice or Kavuni Arisi is on the other hand is a grain which has a whole lot of health benefits which includes prevention of diabetes, blood sugar control, weight control etc. This is a simple but very healthy recipe of tempering of dried neem flavours with spices and finally tossing the black rice with them.

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Neem flower has a lot of health benefits and I make sure I cook one dish with neem flower at my home atleast once in two weeks. I generally take these flowers from my mom’s place where we have a neem tree. The flowers would automatically fall down between march to may month. So we generally put a cloth below the tree and collect these flowers. The process does not stop here, we would then dry them up in the sun for 2 days and clean the flowers by removing the neem sticks and neem leaves which fall along with the flowers. We generally collect these flowers and store them for a year. It doesn’t need any specific preservatives.

Black rice on the other had is full of anti oxidants. There are various places around the world this has been cultivated, I generally get the one from Thailand as they are easily available in all major grocery shops in Singapore. I have seen this in Chennai as well. In Tamilnadu we call it as Kavuni arisi.  For those who are not used to eating black rice tossing them with oil will taste better than eating them like regular rice. However beyond a stage you will start liking black rice without tossing them with oil.

Vempampoo Rice

  Recipe Category: Main Course
Soak time if pressure cooked is used: 6-8 hrs

Cooking Time for rice : 30 mins | Cooking Time of the mix rice: 8 mins  | Gas: Low

Yields : 1 Cup

Ingredients Cooked Black Rice – 1 cup (instructions given below)                                                                                              To Temper

Oil / Ghee – 1 spoon Hing powder – 1/3 spoon Urad dhal – ½ spoon Vempamboo/Dried Neem Flowers – 2 tsp Dry chilli – 1 Curry leaves - few Measurements 1 tsp = 5ml 1 tblsp – 15 ml 1 small cup – 25 ml 1 cup = 250 ml

Preparation

For the black rice 1.       Cook the black rice.  If you are cooking in electric rice cooker there is no need to soak this rice, however if you are cooking black rice in pressure cooker you must soak for a minimum of 6 to 8 hours. For electric rice cooker ,   water to rice ratio is 2:1. Rest follow the same way you cook your regular rice. For pressure cooker ,    Soak time 6-8 hours or preferably over night.    Pressure – 6 whistles or double the time of your regular rice cooking with the water to rice ration 2:1 Best is to cook in electric cooker if you are a beginner. For the Vempampoo rice 2.    Take a pan and add oil.     Once the oil is hot, add hing, chili ,urad dhal, dried neem flowers. Add all of them together at one go. 3.       Once the neem flower is cooked add the cooked black rice. The indication of neem flower being cooked is urad dhal becomes brownish color. 4.       Add salt,mix well and cook for 2 mins. Vempampoo rice is ready to be served. Have it with a good raita as accomplishment.

Notes

• You may add ghee instead of oil. If you are giving to kids its good to do it with ghee.
• You can do the same recipe with white rice and brown rice also.