0 KALKANDU RICE/ SADHAM

Kalkandu sadham/rice or sugar candy rice.


I first had this dish at my aunt's house in south Tamilnadu ... My cousins had decided the menu for a family function and when lunch was served I was just searching for sugar candy in some kind of white rice that was served when I was a kid... only later came to know that it will melt just like jaggery in sweet pongal. I just loved this rice which later on this had become a regular dish at home.


Raw rice - 1 cup
Sugar candy/kalkandu - 1 cup( can also increase by 1/4th cup)
Milk - 1/2 cup
Water - 3 cups
Cashew - few pieces
Raisins - few
Saffron - 4- 5 strands
Ghee - 3 tbsp
cardamom powder a pinch


Cook rice with water and milk ... cook till done... mash lightly ...add in sugar candy and mix and mash well...also add saffron... add 2 tbsp of ghee. and cardamom powder..
heat 1 tbsp of ghee and fry cashew and raisins and add to the rice...
If the sugar candy/kalkandu is very big, then powder it...or else if they are in tiny bits like we get here in US, they will melt in hot rice...so can add just like that.

Or you can cook rice in a rice cooker with 3 cups of water and next heat a tbsp in ghee in a pan and tansfer the cooked rice and cook along with if needed and mash while cooking. Next add sugar candy, saffron strands and cook till sugar candies are melted. Add cardamom powder. Heat the remaining ghee and fry cashew and or raisins and add to the cooked rice and serve.
Adding milk is optional only. You can prepare the rice without them just like the way you make sweet pongal... that is add jaggery instead of sugar candy and cook.