Mango – Spinach Rice

A delicious combo of mango and spinach

Optical Illusion.

Mystery.

Gravity.

Mystery Spot.

???

OK. I will tell you! Yesterday we visited a place called “Mystery Spot” in Santa Cruz, CA. It was awesome.  We were taken to a special cabin where the strange effects happened. There was a friendly guide who was making funny jokes showed us some tricks like balls rolling uphill and water flowing up the spout. We were like standing around in impossible angles defying gravity. I felt like I was riding a roller coaster and it was fun to lose control for some time, but not for long. Totally it was so fun.

OK. I am done! I won’t bore you much :)

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Onion Masala Rice

This is a quick fix and filling rice item at times when we ran out of vegetables. It not only tastes great but also smells great. 

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Mint Rice

I previously posted “Mint Pulao” recipe. This is a different version of it. Mint rice is so aromatic and delicious. 

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Basmathi Rice (I used brown Basmathi)
• 2 cups fresh Mint Leaves
• 5 to 6 Green Chilies, chopped
• 1 small Onion, chopped
• 2 small Tomatoes, chopped
• A pinch of Turmeric Powder
• ½ tsp Cumin Seeds
• 1-2 tbsp Oil
• Salt

Preparation:

Wash and soak rice for 30 minutes in plenty of water. Then add this to a rice cooker and cook until done.

Add water like 1 rice = 1 ½ cups water ratio. When rice is done, spread in a big bowl or a plate to cool down a bit.

In a pan, heat oil and add cumin seeds + onions + tomatoes + green chilies + turmeric, mix well and cook for some time.

Meantime, add the mint leaves to a blender, add little water and grind into a smooth paste. Add this paste to the cooking vegetables, stir well and leave on medium flame for some time until the vegetables become tender.

After some time turn the flame off and pour the contents to the cooked rice, add salt and mix very well by hand or a spatula.

Enjoy the delicious, aromatic mint rice with raita of your choice. We enjoyed ours with Cucumber raita.

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Flax Masala Rice

This is a healthy rice dish that tasted so delicious. The good thing about flax is that it doesn’t have any smell, so that we can easily sneak it in most dishes. That way we can get good health benefits too. As we all know, flax seeds are so rich in omega-3 fatty acids which help to strengthen bones and protect from heart disease, cancer and diabetes.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cooked rice
• ¼ cup green peas (I used frozen peas)
• 2 tbsp flax powder
• 2 or 3 cloves
• 1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
• 2 tsp coconut powder
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp black pepper powder
• Few cashews
• ½ tsp Mustard Seeds
• ¼ tsp Cumin Seeds
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• Salt

Preparation:

Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. When they splutter add cumin seeds + onions and sauté well until onions become soft. Then add green peas + flax powder + cloves + ginger-garlic paste + coconut powder + oil + garam masala + black pepper powder + cashews and sauté well.

Finally add cooked rice and mix well with a spatula until it blends well with the masalas. Adjust salt. Cover and leave on low flame for 5 minutes.

Later mix well and transfer to a serving bowl. Enjoy this yummy and healthy rice with some curds and papads.

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Coconut Rice

Coconut Rice a well known rice dish that most of us prepare. I would like to write about my version of coconut rice. It’s a quick dish and is so satisfying in taste. I usually prepare this when I am in a hurry and have no veggies at home.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Cooked Rice
• 1 cup grated Coconut, fresh or dry
• A small Onion, finely chopped
• 1 or 2 Green Chilies, finely chopped
• ½ tsp Red Chili Powder
• Few Curry Leaves
• A pinch of Turmeric
• Few Cashews
• ½ tsp Cumin Seeds
• 2 tsp Oil
• Salt to taste

Preparation:

Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds + onion + green chilies + cashews + curry leaves and sauté well for some time until onions become soft.

Then add coconut and fry well for some time. And then add rice + turmeric and mix well to make sure there are no lumps. Add salt and red chili powder and mix well. Cover and keep the rice on low flame for 5 minutes and turn off the flame.

Great tasting coconut rice is ready!! Enjoy with some papads or plain yogurt.

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Yellow Squash Rice

Here is another delicious rice item that was prepared using Yellow Squash. One of our friends has given us lot of these yellow squashes. I made daal with it once, curry once and finally this yummy rice item. As we all know, squash is a healthy vegetable that has very low calories. It is rich in many nutrients and vitamins. If interested to know more about the health benefits of squashes, check this site: WH Foods.

Picture Courtesy: http://www.alharrison.com/commodities.php#12

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Basmati Rice
• 3 cups grated yellow Squash
• 1 small Onion, cut lengthwise
• 1 Potato, peeled and cut into cubes
• 1 tsp Garam Masala
• ½ tsp Cardamom Seeds
• 3 or 4 whole Cloves
• ½ tsp Cinnamon, ground
• 3 Green Chilies, chopped
• 1 tsp Ginger-Garlic Paste
• ¼ cup Green Peas, fresh or frozen
• ½ tsp Turmeric
• 4 Tomatoes, chopped
• 1 tbsp Oil

Preparation:

Peel, cut the end and grate the yellow squash. Keep aside.

Wash and soak rice in plenty of water until all the other things are made ready.

Heat oil in a pan and add all the other ingredients except rice and sauté well for some time. Then remove the water from the soaked rice and slowly add to the pan. Stir well.

If using pressure pan, add water (3 cups) directly to the pan, adjust salt and leave it on the flame until 3 whistles. Then turn off the flame and let the pressure go out. Mix well.

If using electric rice cooker, then add the contents of the pan to it, adjust salt and let it cook. When done, mix the rice well.

Enjoy the steaming hot rice with some potato chips or raita or just plain yogurt.

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Bisibele Bath

This is a Karnataka special, made with nice blend of flavors is always a hit. It tastes like sambhar bath but uses slightly different ingredients. One of my readers requested me to blog about this Bisibele Bath, I think 2 months ago (I know! I know!). I realized I didn’t blog about it, so decided to make Bisibele Bath this weekend at any cost, and I did.

I didn’t actually follow the traditional method (I mean making BBB powder) (I always want to escape from making something from scratch), so invented my own easy method. But trust me; it tasted just like the traditional BBB.

For your convenience, I will give both traditional and my easy methods. Of course, except for the powder part I mostly follow the traditional method.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Rice
• 1 cup Toor Dal (Kandi Pappu) (can be replaced with Masoor Dal)
• 6 cups Water
• 1 big Onion, chopped
• 4 or 5 small pearl Onions
• 1 Tomato, chopped
• A small piece of Carrot, peeled and cut into pieces
• 4 or 5 green Chilies, chopped
• A handful of Mixed Vegetables (any of your choice)
• 1 tsp Tamarind Extract
• ½ tsp Turmeric Powder
• ½ tsp Mustard Seeds
• ¼ tsp Cumin Seeds
• ¼ tsp Bengal Gram (Pachi Senagapappu, Chana Dal)
• ¼ tsp Black Gram (Minapapappu, Urad Dal)
• A few Cashews
• A few Curry Leaves
• A few Cilantro Leaves(Kottimeera)
• Salt
• 1 tsp Oil
• 1 tsp Ghee (Neyyi, Clarified Butter)

To Grind into Powder: (Traditional)	My Masala (No Frying and No Grinding)
Coriander Seeds – 1 tsp Fenugreek Seeds – ½ tsp Desiccated Coconut – ¼ cup Khus Khus – 1 tsp Cloves – 4 Cardamom – 4 Cinnamon – A small piece 2 or 3 dry Red Chilies	1 tsp Sambar Powder (I always make sambar powder at home that already contains red chilies and coconut, but you can use store-bought Sambar Powder too!) 4 Whole Cloves 1 tsp Cinnamon Powder ¼ tsp Cardamom Seeds

Preparation:

If you wish to follow the traditional method, roast all the ingredients under “To Grind” using little oil and grind into a fine powder.

Wash and pressure cook toor daal until 3 whistles. Go, read a book or watch your favorite TV program until all the pressure is gone.

In a pressure pan, heat oil and add mustard seeds. When they splutter, add cumin seeds + Bengal Gram + Black Gram + cashews and fry until the dals turn golden brown in color.

Then add curry leaves + cilantro and stir well. Later add all the vegetables and mix well (no need to fry them for a long time).

Later add turmeric + tamarind extract and mix very well. Finally add the ground powders (or add the ingredients listed under “I Used”, if you are following my method) and stir well.

Now it’s time to add rice and dal. Wash rice well and add along with the cooked dal and mix well. Pour water and add salt. Mix well and put the lid on the pressure pan along with the weight on top. Wait for 3 whistles and switch off the flame.

After all the pressure is gone, slowly remove the lid and add ghee and mix BBB well. You can experience the wonderful aroma filling your house while this BBB is getting cooked.

Enjoy steaming hot BBB with some chips/papads/yogurt on side or just like that.

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Tahari

This is an easy and delicious rice item mostly found in Awadhi cuisine. As I was searching for Lucknow recipes for Lavi’s "RCI - Lucknow Cuisine” event, I stumbled upon this recipe. According to Lavi, if it is difficult to find vegetarian Lucknowi recipes, we can look for Awadhi cuisine's veg recipes too. I found this recipe here and was attracted towards its simplicity. It tasted just like vegetable biryani.

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cups Rice, uncooked
• 3-4 Potatoes, peeled and cut into halves
• 1 tsp Garlic Paste
• 1 tsp Ginger Paste
• 6 Cloves
• ¼ tsp Cardamom Powder
• ½ tsp Cinnamon Powder
• ½ tsp Turmeric Powder
• 1 Large Tomato
• 2-3 Green Chilies
• 1 Medium sized Onion
• 3-4 tbsp Oil
• ½ tsp Cumin Seeds
• 6 Black Peppercorns
• Salt to taste

Preparation:

Wash and soak rice for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a pressure pan and add onions and fry for some time. Then add all the spices, green chilies, chopped tomato, and potato pieces and stir well.

Finally add pre-soaked rice to this mixture and mix well. Pour water in 1:1.5 ratios. Add salt to taste.

Cover and leave the pan on medium flame until 3 whistles. Switch off and let all the pressure go away before opening the lid.

Enjoy steaming hot tahari with some plain yogurt or any chutney.

This is my contribution to “RCI - Lucknow Cuisine” event, hosted by Lavi. RCI is originally started by Lakshmi.

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Caribbean Rice

Are you ready to join me in the trip to the Caribbean Islands? Then come on, let’s go and join the fun by cooking some vibrant, scintillating Caribbean food for “Monthly Mingle: Caribbean Cooking”, hosted by Meeta of What’s For Lunch Honey! OK, OK! You can pack your swim suits and beach slippers too! :)

Before we head to the kitchen to cook something, let’s make ourselves little bit educated about Caribbean islands and its cuisine. Shall we?

The Caribbean is a region consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (most of which enclose the sea), and the surrounding coasts. The region is located southeast of the Gulf of Mexico and Northern America, east of Central America, and to the north of South America.(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caribbean)

Caribbean cuisine is a fusion of African, Amerindian, British, Spanish, French, Dutch, Indian. These traditions were brought from the many homelands of this region's population. In addition, the population has created (from this vast wealth of tradition) many styles that are unique to the region. Another Caribbean mainstay is rice, but you'll find the rice on each island may be a little different. Some season their rice, or add peas and other touches - like coconut. Sometimes the rice is yellow, other times it may be more brown but overall it tends to just act as part of a dish. Though it comes in many forms, it is a common side dish throughout the region.(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caribbean_cuisine)

I have gathered so many delicious Caribbean dishes that gave me a hard time to decide which one to cook. All the recipes sounded delicious. You won’t believe if I say that I have spent two whole days in deciding what to cook for the event. Anyway, I finally settled for Caribbean Rice recipe as it sounded different and yummier. And I am glad I picked it, because we liked it so much. It’s a perfect blend of spices and health.

You can read the original recipe from here.

Ingredients: (Serves 3 persons)

• 1 (15 ounce) Can of red Kidney Beans, drained
• 1 (3 ½ ounce) Can of green Chilies, drained (I used ½ cup of chopped Jalapeno Chilies)
• 1 cup Canned Pineapple Chunks, drained and halved
• 1 Onion, diced
• 1 tbsp Oil
• ½ cup toasted Slivered Almonds
• Salt as required
• 2 cloves Garlic, minced
• 5 cups hot Cooked Rice (equal to 2 cups uncooked rice)

Preparation:

Heat oil in a pan and add onion along with garlic. Sauté for some time until onion becomes translucent. Let it cool for some time.

Add onion mixture to a blender along with green chilies and salt and grind into a smooth paste.

Add this puree to the hot rice along with kidney beans + pineapple + almonds and mix well. Adjust salt.

Enjoy delicious Caribbean rice! It’s a perfect blend of sweet and spicy ingredients.

As I used some almonds in this reicpe, I am also sending this to "Let's Go Nuts with Almonds", hosted by JZ @ Tasty Treats. Thanks for reminding me Priyanka!

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Corn Masala Rice

Corn and I are the best friends! I like corn so much that I can just eat a bowl of corn for lunch and nothing else! Here is a rice variety I usually prepare with corn.

BTW, I clicked these pictures at night with the trick I told at Anudivya’s place. I just switched off the lights in the room, clicked it using the camera’s flash. Don’t you think they came out good? I used the same trick for the pictures of Banana Bread that I posted earlier.

Ingredients:

• Cooked Rice – 2 cups
• Corn Kernels – 1 cup
• Green Peas – 1 cup
• Chili Powder – 1 tsp
• Sambar Powder – 1 tsp
• Garam Masala – ½ tsp
• Sugar – 1 tsp
• Turmeric – ¼ tsp
• Some broken Cashews
• Juice of 1 Lemon
• Oil – 2 tbsp
• Cumin Seeds – ½ tsp
• Mustard Seeds – ½ tsp
• A handful of Cilantro
• Salt as required

Preparation:

Heat the oil in a non-stick pan and add mustard seeds. When they splutter add cumin seeds and fry a little while.

Then add the cashews and sauté till they turn brown in color. Later add corn + peas + cilantro + sambar masala + garam masala + chili powder + sugar + turmeric and fry for some time. Add a cup of water to cook the corn. Masalas can be adjusted according to individual spice levels.

When all the water gets absorbed add cooked rice + lemon juice and mix well. Adjust salt. Keep the pan on the flame for some time and stir well. Then switch off the flame and leave the pan on the stove for 5 minutes.

Finally transfer corn masala rice to a serving plate and enjoy with some curd on side.

This is my contribution to Srivalli’s “Rice Mela”.

On a Different Note:

I am so happy that I have so many lovely blogger friends who always think about me. I happily got wet again in the rain of awards! Here goes:

• Hema Balji has passed “Perfect Blend of Friendship, Yum Yum Blog, Hard working blogger, Great Buddy, Kreativ Blogger” awards.


• Vibaas has passed the “Yum Yum Blog” award.


• Dibs has passed “Hard working blogger, Great Buddy, Kreativ Blogger, Butterfly, Inspiration, Chocoholic, Perfect Blend of Friendship, 360⁰ Foodie, Good Job” awards.


• Indrani has passed “Hard working blogger, Great Buddy, Kreativ Blogger, Butterfly, Inspiration, Chocoholic, Perfect Blend of Friendship, 360⁰ Foodie, Good Job” awards.

Thank you so much for your friendship dear friends! I appreciate your nice gestures!

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Moong Dal Kichidi

A delicious, healthy and filling rice dish

Kichidi (or Pongali as we call in Telugu) is a staple food in many Indian households. This is usually served as breakfast during weddings too. In our case, we mostly eat this during dinner time. And we like our kichidi to be little spongy and soft, so I add an additional cup of water than the regular 2 cups water for 1 cup of rice. My version is little different than the authentic version.

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Easy Breezy Pulao

One day, my sister R prepared this pulao for dinner. She did this in a jiffy without much work like cutting and frying the veggies and soaking the rice etc. She even didn’t use so many ingredients, but the pulao tasted so great and I thought I would share this delicious, easy recipe with all of you!

Here is the recipe in her words:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Basmati Rice
• ½ cup Mixed Vegetables (Frozen variety)
• ¼ tsp Turmeric
• 1 tsp Garam Masala
• ½ tsp Ghee or Butter
• ½ tsp Oil
• 1 ½ cups of Water to cook
• Salt as required

Preparation:

Wash the rice well and place it in any rice cooker (electric or pressure) along with the mixed vegetables + turmeric + ½ tsp garam masala + salt + water. If desired, some red chili powder can be added for more spiciness.

When the rice is done (cooked), add the remaining ½ tsp garam masala along with the ghee or butter and mix well. That’s it! The Easy Breezy Pulao is ready.

Garnish the pulao with roasted cashews and mint or cilantro, if desired. Enjoy the steaming hot rice with raita or just plain yogurt.

Isn’t this pulao sounds so easy and scrumptious?

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Mint Pulao

We made this pulao for dinner one day. My sister has lots of mint plants in her backyard. When I saw this aromatic fresh mint, the first thing that came into my mind was the “Herb Mania” event being hosted by dear Dee. This is a simple yet delicious pulao (of course most of my recipes involve less work, don’t you think? He he!), that satisfies our palate.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups fresh Mint
  
• 1 cup Mixed Vegetables (Frozen)
  
• 1 medium Onion
  
• 3 or 4 Green Chilies
  
• 4 cups Basmati Rice
  
• ¼ tsp Cardamom
  
• ¼ tsp Cumin Seeds
  
• 3 or 4 Cloves
  
• 2 medium Tomatoes
  
• 2 flakes of Garlic
  
• 1 Potato
  
• 4 cups Water
  
• 2 tbsp Oil
  
• Salt as required
  

Preparation:

Wash and soak the rice for 30 minutes. Keep aside.

Chop onion + green chilies + tomatoes + garlic into tiny pieces. Peel and cut potato into cubes.

Pour the oil in a pan and add cumin +garlic + cardamom + cloves and fry well. Add the chopped veggies along with mint leaves and stir well. Cover and leave the pan on a medium flame for some time.

Later remove the cover, stir well and finally add the soaked rice and stir well. Leave this on the low flame for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

Then transfer the contents into a rice cooker, add 4 cups of water and salt to taste and let it cook.

Enjoy the mint pulao with raita and chips (optional).

This is my contribution for the event, “Herb Mania” being hosted by dear Dee of Ammalu’s Kitchen.

On a different note:

Dear friends Suma, Sireesha, Sowmya and Ranji have made me so happy by passing the beautiful friendship award. Thank you so much dear friends!

I am passing this award to Kamala, Priyanka, Laavanya, Karuna, Bhags, Andhra Flavors, RamyaBala, Easy Crafts, Jayashree, Madhavi, Sujatha and to all of you dear friends!

Congrats to you all!

Dear Hetal has passed the “Yum Yum Blog” award. Thanks for the nice gesture Hetal!

Dear Trupti has passed the “Giant Bear Hug”. Thank you for the award Trupti!

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Easy Vegetable Rice

Preparation Time: 20 min. (approx.). Serves: 2 persons

This vegetable rice is not only so delicious, but also healthy and quick. If you use all the readily available frozen vegetables, it is even faster to prepare. This definitely is a winner among family and also a filling one pot dish.

The recipe includes a combination of several vegetables and spices that give this dish a great flavor and taste. I used 3 tbsp oil for this dish, but it can be reduced to a little amount to lessen the oil intake. 

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Arroz Verde

Arroz Verde is the Mexican rice recipe meaning “Green Rice”. I got the recipe idea from here, which I customized to suit our tastes.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Long-grain Rice (I used Basmati)
• 1 medium Onion
• 4 stalks of Celery
• 4 small Jalapeno Chilies
• 2 cloves of Garlic
• ½ cup Green Peas, frozen or fresh
• 4 small Carrots
• 2 tbsp Oil
• Salt as required
• 3 cups Water

Preparation:

Cut the celery, onion, chilies and garlic into medium pieces. Peel the skin of carrots and cut them into dice sized pieces.

In a microwave safe bowl, add celery, onion, chilies and garlic with just enough water to soak them, cover with a lid and microwave for 10 minutes or until the vegetables become tender.

Meanwhile, wash the rice well and soak in enough water for 15 minutes.

When the vegetables are cooked, take the bowl from the microwave and remove the cover. Let it stand until the vegetables cool down a little bit. Then puree them in a blender into a smooth paste. Reserve the water used for cooking the vegetables for later use as it has so many nutrients. Keep the puree aside.

In a pressure pan, heat the oil and fry the raw rice gently, so that it cooks evenly without burning. To this, add the chopped carrots and green peas and fry well for some time.

Add the pureed vegetables to the rice and stir well again.

Later add 3 cups of water to the rice (use the reserved healthy water too) and adjust the salt.

Stir well, check the salt and cover the pressure pan. Switch it off after 3 whistles. When all the pressure is gone, open the cover and mix the rice well.

Serve hot with some chips or alone.

This rice item tasted so great and the good point is it has all the healthy ingredients. This Arroz Verde is my contribution to A.W.E.D. event being hosted by DK of Culinary Bazaar.

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Peas and Capsicum Rice for MBP

When Pavani of Cook’s Hideout has announced the “Monthly Blog Patrol-April: One Pot Wonders” for April, I started to search different blogs for recipes. I really amazed to see so many wonderful recipes to choose from which was a hard decision to make. I finally landed on Vanamala’s PEAS & CAPSICUM RICE. She has so many other delicious recipes too. I chose this rice item for three reasons: one is, I had all the ingredients at hand as mentioned in it and second is, it is so green in color, which happened to be my favorite color and third is, it looked so delicious too. You can find the original recipe here.

I didn’t make any changes to the original recipe except for few things like:

1. Instead of cooked rice as she mentioned, I used uncooked basmati rice.
2. Instead of fresh coconut, I used desiccated coconut.
3. Reduced the amount of oil to use with the recipe.

I used the pressure pan to cook this Peas & Capsicum Rice. Hot, delicious rice was served with plain yogurt and some papads. Thanks Vanamala for sharing such a delicious recipe.

This delicious Peas and Capsicum Rice goes to Pavani’s Monthly Blog Patrol-April: One Pot Wonders.

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Capsicum Rice with Multi-Colored Peppers

I used to prepare capsicum rice only with green bell peppers. Later I added all the colors of bell peppers, as I wanted to add more color to this rice item. It really tasted yummy and looked so picturesque.

Here is the recipe to prepare the multi-colored capsicum rice.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups Basmati Rice
• 1 small Onion
• 1 Red Bell Pepper
• 1 Orange Bell Pepper
• 1 Yellow Bell Pepper
• 1 Green Bell Pepper
• 1 Tomato
• 2 or 3 cloves of Garlic
• ¼ cup Green Peas
• 1 small Potato
• 2 tsp Black Pepper Powder
• ¼ tsp Turmeric Powder
• 1 tsp Cumin Seeds
• 2 tbsp Oil
• 4 ½ cups Water
• Salt to taste

Method:

Wash the rice well and soak in water for 30 minutes. Cut all the peppers and the onion length wise into thin strips. Peel the skin of potato and cut into cubes. Finely chop the tomato and the garlic.

In a microwave-safe bowl, add the oil along with all the chopped veggies and cumin seeds and green peas and sprinkle a little water.

Then cover the bowl and run the microwave for 10 minutes or until the vegetables appear cooked and all the water is absorbed.

Transfer these vegetables to a microwave rice cooker (available in stores) and add the soaked rice after draining all the water. Finally add the black pepper powder and mix well.

Add the required water and then add the salt to taste. Cook the rice till done (for 20 minutes or depending on individual microwaves.

Serve hot with raitha or plain yogurt and some potato chips, if desired.

This multi-colored capsicum rice goes to Srivalli, who has been hosting the wonderful event, “MEC: Rice”.

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Tomato Rice

Tomato rice is the most favorite rice item in our house. It not only appears colorful, but tastes great too. It has the perfect blend of vegetables and spices.

Let’s check what we need to make this:

• 2 cups basmati rice
• 5 or 6 tomatoes
• 4 or 5 green chilies
• 1 medium onion
• 1 potato
• A handful of green peas
• 2 tbsp oil

For Masala:

• Garlic and Ginger pieces or paste
• 1 tsp Cinnamon powder
• 4 or 5 cloves
• 2 or 3 Bay Leaves
• Some curry leaves
• Some cardamom seeds
• 1 tsp turmeric

O.K. Now we have everything. So let’s start making it.

Wash the basmati rice well and soak it in water for 30 minutes. Chop all the vegetables into small pieces. Gather all the spices. I use the whole spices without grinding them. I like it that way. We can also grind all of them into smooth paste. The amount of spices can be increased or decreased depending on one’s taste.

Heat oil in the pan and add all the spices. Fry them for a while, and then add the chopped vegetables. A spoon of tomato paste (available in cans) can also be to the vegetables to make them look more reddish. But that is just optional. When the vegetables become soft add the soaked basmati rice after draining all the water. Fry till the mixture becomes little dry.

Then transfer all the contents into a rice cooker, add salt and cook till done. Serve hot with plain yogurt or raita.

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