I'm always on the look out for variety rice recipes. I'm not a big rice fan as such, but I've a weakness for variety rice dishes. There is also a hidden agenda, hhmm.. I think I should be careful when I talk about hidden agendas, you might wonder whether I always operate with a hidden agenda ;)
Anyways, my fav part about variety rice is you dont need many side dishes to go with it. Most of the times, it can be a one pot dish, easy, simple and loaded with flavour. That means less work. See my hidden agenda is all for greater good, nothing harmful ;)
Last month we went home for a short trip and  I got a Veg cook book from the airport book shop. It's called “Simply South”, traditional vegetarian cooking by Chandra Padmanabhan. It has some really good veg recipes which you can try on a daily basis. I already tried three recipes, successfully, in a week's time! I've bookmarked many more…
This is one of the recipes that I've tried. It was something different from the usual pulao / rice dishes that I make. The homemade spice powder gives a distinct flavour to the dish. We had it with some raita (yogurt salad), pappad and pickle. It was a good meal.
Let me tell you… dont get discouraged by the length of the recipe, it's a simple one. It's a detailed recipe, that's all :)
You can see more rice recipes here
Here is the recipe…
Cook rice with salt and water. Drain the water and spread the rice on a plate to cool (refer notes for details)…
Microwave the coconut for 30-40 seconds. Heat oil for spice powder in the same pan. Add microwaved coconut and fry it till it becomes dry, 3-4 mins. Add remaining ingredients for spice powder and continue to fry over low heat…
Toss gently, till dal turns golden and chillies and spices are fragrant. Cool and grind to a fine powder…
Heat ghee for tempering in a deep and wide pan. Add remaining ingredients listed under tempering…
When mustard cracks, add veggies. Saute for 2 mins. Add 1/2 cup hot water. Cover pan and cook for 8-10 mins, stirring, occasionally, till the veggies are tender. Add lemon / lime juice…
Add salt and spice powder. Mix gently…
Add the cooked rice and stir gently till well blended. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and fried cashew…
Ingredients
- 1 cup Basmati Rice
- 1 medium Carrot (finely chopped)
- 1 small - medium Potato (finely chopped)
- 1/4 cup Green peas (I used frozen peas)
- 2-3 tsp Sweet corn kernels (I didint use it)
- 1.5 tbsp Lemon / lime juice
For spice powder
- 2 tsp Husked black gram (urad dal)
- 2 tsp Husked bengal gram (chana dal)
- 2 Dried red chilli
- 1 tbsp Coriander seeds
- 1/2 tsp Asafoetida (hing / kayam) ( I used a little less than 1/2 tsp)
- 3 Cloves
- 1/2 inch stick Cinnamon
- 2 tbsp Grated Coconut (refer notes)
- Oil (I used sunflower oil)
For tempering
- 1-2 tbsp Ghee
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 tsp Husked black gram (urad dal)
- 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
- 1 Dried red chilli
- Curry leaves
For garnishing
- 1-2 tbsp Ghee
- 6-7 Cashew nuts
- 2 tbsp Chopped coriander leaves
Instructions
- Cook rice with salt and water. Drain the water and spread the rice on a plate to cool (refer notes for details).
- Heat ghee for garnishing in a small pan and fry the cashews, till it's golden. Keep it aside.
- Microwave the coconut for 30-40 seconds. Heat oil for spice powder in the same pan. Add microwaved coconut and fry it till it becomes dry, 3-4 mins. Add remaining ingredients for spice powder and continue to fry over low heat. Toss gently, till dal turns golden and chillies and spices are fragrant. Cool and grind to a fine powder.
- Heat ghee for tempering in a deep and wide pan. Add remaining ingredients listed under tempering. When mustard cracks, add veggies. Saute for 2 mins. Add 1/2 cup hot water. Cover pan and cook for 8-10 mins, stirring, occasionally, till the veggies are tender. Add lemon / lime juice. Mix well.
- Add salt and spice powder. Mix gently. Add the cooked rice and stir gently till well blended. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and fried cashew.
- Let it rest for 20-30 mins for the flavour to settle in. Serve with Raita, Pappad and Pickle.
Notes
