Organic Mappillai Samba Rice

Preperation Method:

Please soak this rice for at least 12 hours before cooking. If it is cooked in pressure cooker, then leave for 6 to 8 whistles. Please make sure that the cooker has enough water. Soaking water should be pure water and not salty water. Mixing: Please do not mix red rice varieties with black rice varieties. Red rice should be mixed with other red rice varieties and black rice should be mixed with other black rice varieties. If one would like to mix white rice with colored rice, please mix in the ratio of 1/3 as white rice and 2/3 as colored rice.

The origins of its name can be found in Tamil folklore which has it that traditionally, on his wedding day, a bridegroom (Mappillai) was required to lift a heavy rock as a show of his strength and virility. To help boost his energy before the task, this rice was cooked and fed to the new son-in-law.

Along with other native varieties of rice, Mappillai samba has all but disappeared from our farms and markets, making way instead for highly processed, nutritionally inferior white rice.