Eggplant Rice (Brinjal rice)

Nothing thrills me like fresh stock of vegetables on display at the market. I am pulled automatically to the vegetable counter if I see some fresh stock of vegetables- I don’t know if it is their color or their vibrancy that attracts me? The other day, I was amazed to see some shimmering eggplants at my market and I loved the glistening coat and their texture. You get to see two varieties in the market- big-sized eggplants and the cute little small ones. I love the small ones, which taste heavenly in any kind of south Indian cooking.

This rice dish, celebrates the eggplants, which has been sautéed with Indian spices and will leave a lingering taste in your mouth. Creativity is the essence here- You can recreate this dish with different vegetables and vary spice level according to your palette. The recipe credit goes to my mom, who has always shown me the path to enjoy different flavors. so, Enjoy :)

Shimmering eggplants sauteed with feisty Indian spices combines with rice to create this simple & tasty delicacy!

Ingredients

• Basic Ingredients-
• 2 large onions (chopped)
• 3-4 small eggplants (cut in cubes)
• 3 tomatoes (chopped)
• 4 garlic cloves (crushed & chopped finely)
• tsp grated ginger
• Uncooked rice- 1 cup
• Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
• Asafetida powder (just a dash)
• 2 Green chillies- slit and cut in half
• Spices used-
• Cinnamon stick- ½ inch
• Bay leaf- 1
• Sambar powder- ½ tsp
• Garam masala- ¼ tsp
• Coriander seeds (sabut dhania) 100 gms
• 3-4 dry red chilies
• Cardamom pods -3

Instructions

1. Wash the rice & cook it in a non stick pan with two cups of water. Alternatively, you can use a rice cooker/pressure cooker for the same. Just ensure that the cooked rice is not sticky and the grains are separated.
2. Dry roast the coriander seeds, dry red chilies, cardamom seeds and grind them to a fine powder.
3. Heat some cooking oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds. Allow the seeds to crackle and add asafetida powder.
4. Add green chillies, bay leaf, garlic and ginger. Allow the oil to soak up the flavor.
5. Add onions and saute them well till translucent.
6. Add tomatoes and allow them to cook for few minutes.
7. Toss in the eggplants and cook till tender.
8. Enhance it by adding the sambar powder & garam masala. Allow the eggplants to absorb the spices. If need be, sprinkle a bit of water so that the mixture doesn’t get too dry.
9. Add the ground spices that we prepared earlier and ensure that the mixture has incorporated all the spices well. Adjust salt according to your taste.
10. Add this mixture to your cooked rice and blend well till the rice has absorbed the mixture completely.
11. Serve hot with raita and pickle!

Notes

Sambar powder is readily available at any Asian store and is normally prepared by pan roasting whole spices like lentils, coriander seeds, dried whole red chili, fenugreek seeds, curry leaves & grinding them to a coarse powder.

Published @ Honest Cooking - http://honestcooking.com/2011/10/19/spicy-eggplant-rice/

Born out of necessity, devoured for its taste- Corn Pulav!

The title says it all, doesn't it? It's a simple rice dish enhanced by spices and corn. Works well with raita or a simple dal. There comes a time when you don't have veggies in your fridge and running out for groceries is a tiring task. To the rescue, out came tumbling from my freezer a small pack of frozen sweet corn and frozen peas and with basmati rice I pulled out a good concoction for dinner. I would say this is one of the easiest quick fix for dinner and you don't have to sweat for this recipe. Why not give it a shot?

What goes in?

1 cup uncooked Basmati rice
1/4 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup frozen corn kernel
chopped green chilli - 1
minced garlic 1/2 tbsp

Spices?

1/4 tsp crushed black pepper
Cinnamon stick - 1 small piece
1 bay leaf
Cumin seeds 1 tsp
dash of garam masala powder
cardamom - 2
salt according to taste

Bring on the magic-

Wash the rice thoroughly and cook it on a medium flame in a non stick pan with one cup of water. Once the rice is cooked, keep it separate. In another pan, heat oil and add cumin seeds, cinnamon stick, bay leaf and cardamom. As the oil absorbs the flavor and cumin starts sputtering, add green chilli pieces and minced garlic. Cook for a couple of seconds before adding peas and corn. Add garam masala, salt, crushed pepper and cook for 5 minutes. Add cooked rice to this mixture and combine everything till the rice gets incorporated with the spices. Enjoy with dal!

Vegetable Paella

Paella is a Valencian rice dish generally made with vegetables, meat and sea food. I never thought that it will be equally enjoyable with only vegetables (minus meat). Vegetable Paella is so full of flavors that you will simply forget the absence of meat and enjoy it equally. It is quite a simple dish to prepare and for a hardcore vegetarian like me- it's divine. This dish is a must try if you have only eaten meat based paella- Plus, it's a one pot meal and can be prepared in short notice without much fuss-

Ingredients-

1 large onion chopped

4 cups vegetable broth

2 cups rice (paella/risotto rice)

4 medium tomatoes chopped

1 red bell pepper (cut in thin strips)

1 green bell pepper (cut in thin strips)

1 yellow bell pepper (cut in thin strips)

1 cup green peas

1 cup artichoke hearts (quartered)

1 lemon

How did I make it?

Heat olive oil and saute onion with garlic till the onions start changing color. Add the bell peppers, tomatoes and cook for a couple of minutes. Add the paella/risotto rice and saute for about 5 minutes. In a separate pan, heat the broth till it starts to simmer. Add the simmering vegetable broth to the paella mixture and cook over medium flame for 15 minutes. Stir in the peas and artichokes before the liquid gets completely absorbed by the rice. Add some lemon juice. Continue to cook for another 5 minutes till the water is completely absorbed and the rice is cooked and tender. Serve hot!