Seeraga Samba Rice vs Sona Masoori Rice vs Basmati Rice

Today I'll be writing about the difference between Seeraga Samba rice, Sona masoori rice and Basmati rice. 

As you can see in the picture below, Seeraga Samba is the shortest of the three. Sona Masoori is medium sized and Basmati is the longest rice. Sona Masoori doesn't have a strong scent but the other two are very aromatic. Basmati is mainly grown in the northern parts of India. Whereas, the other two are grown in the southern Indian states. All three rices are exported worldwide. 

Seeraga Samba is mainly used for making biriyani and fried rice. Sona Masoori is used for making the rice that you have with paruppu, sambar, rasam, etc. Basmati rice is used for dum biriyani and jeera rice. The usage of the rice varieties varies according to people's taste. Do experiment and taste the difference! :)

Kadalai Paruppu [Chana Dhal] vs Thuvaram Paruppu [Toor Dhal]

Kadalai paruppu and Thuvaram paruppu may be difficult to distinguish for some. So here, I will describe the difference between both the dhals and what they are used for. 

Let's start off with the difference in appearance. Although both the dhals are yellow and semi-spherical, there are ways to distinguish them. Kadalai paruppu is bigger and fatter in size. Thuvaram paruppu is smaller and flatter. Kadalai paruppu is also more yellow than thuvaram paruppu. See the images below for reference.

Left - Kadalai paruppu, Right - Thuvaram paruppu

The yellow dhal that comes in a typical Tamilian meal is made with thuvaram paruppu. This is also used to make sambhar. Kadalai paruppu is mainly used to make pakoda, poli, vegetable side dish, and kadalai paruppu kolumbu with raw banana.