Receta Rice Made Easy – Four Spicy & Flavorful Quick Rice Recipes
I like how versatile this humble grain Rice could be in various forms of cuisines world over. From more exotic Sushi to Risotto to the simple curd rice from South India, this ancient grain has come a long way. Though I am not a rice loving person, having married in a place where every day starts with rice and ends with it made me reinvent some of the very famous rice recipes here. Now my menu boasts of many easy to make and scrumptious rice recipes I learned from my MIL and friends here.
And yes if you are already bored with the time consuming & tedious cooking methods of your Risottos and the Shahi Pulav these quickies will win you over hands down
I love the simplicity of these recipes with which these can be easily included in the lunch, dinner and can be packed comfortably in the lunchbox too. Each recipe has a distinct color, aroma and taste which makes them unique. Red rice, green rice, yellow rice…no these are not the varieties of rice but the names given to the rice dishes I pack for my children to school. So the tomato rice becomes red rice, coriander rice as green rice and lemon rice takes the name of yellow rice.
The few changes I often make in my MIL’s recipe is to add more nutritious brown rice, black sesame seeds, and whole black gram in place of polished white rice, skinned sesame seeds and de husked black gram.
1. Tangy Tomato Rice
Ingredients;
(serves 2)
2 cups pre cooked rice*
1 cup fresh tomato juice/puree
1 green chilly
2 tsp. vegetable oil
1 small onion
1/2 tsp. mustard seeds
1 tsp. de-husked black gram
1/4 tsp. cumin seeds
A pinch of asafoetida powder
Salt as desired
A few sprigs of curry leaves
Method; Wash and cook the rice and keep it aside. For making a cup of tomato juice you may need 3-4 medium tomatoes. Wash the tomatoes and blend in mixer to make a puree. Filter the puree if you want a clear tomato rice.Peel and slice the onion finely. Chop the green chilly.
Heat oil in a wok and crackle mustard and add de husked black gram (dhuli urad dal) & cumin seeds in it. Add the diced onion, curry leaves, asafoetida and green chilly to the oil and fry it for about a minute. Pour the tomato puree in the wok and keep frying for another 3-4 minutes. Take the wok off the flame.
Add salt the the pre cooked rice and mix well. Pour the above tempering in the rice and mix it thoroughly. Serve this Tangy Tomato rice with plain yogurt or a yogurt Raita with vegetables.
2. Fresh Coriander Leaves Rice
Ingredients:
1 cup fresh coriander leaves
1 cup cooked rice*
1/4 tsp asafoetida(hing)
salt as desired
1/2 tsp.mustard seeds
1 tbsp.oil
1 tbsp. Magic powder(given below)
Magic powder:
1 cup de-skinned black gram(urad)
1/2 cup sesame seeds(Til)
4-5 dry red chillies
Method: Dry roast the gram & sesame (til) till light brown in colour. Grind all the ingredients in a mixer to a coarse powder. Store in an air tight container for future use. Stays fresh for a month if kept in refrigerator.
Method: Wash and shred the coriander leaves finely. Grind the coriander leaves along with the magic powder and rest of the ingredients in a mixer. Try not to add water to this paste.The resultant paste will look like the one in the above picture.
Heat oil add mustard seeds let it splutter. Add the ground paste and fry it for 3 minutes. Take off flame and mix in the pre-cooked rice into it.
Serve this Fresh Coriander Leaves Green rice with plain curd or pack in the lunch-boxes with some freshly home-made chips.
3. Spicy Black Peppercorn & Sesame Rice
Ingredients;
- Spice mix;
- 1/2 cup Black peppercorns
- 1/4 cup sesame seeds
- 2 tsp. Cumin seeds
- 2 tsp. rock salt
- A few curry leaves
- 1/4 tsp. asafoetida powder
- For tempering;
- (For making 2 servings)
- 2 cups pre cooked rice*
- 2 tsp. oil
- 1/2 tsp. mustard seeds
- 1/ tsp. de husked black gram
Method; Wash and cook rice and keep it separate. heat a wok and dry roast the peppercorns, curry leaves, cumin seeds and sesame for about 5-6 minutes on medium heat. Take off the heat and let it cool a bit.
Grind the above roasted ingredients, rock salt and asafoetida powder into coarse powder and store it in a clean glass bottle for future use. This powder stays good for 5-6 months and more if refrigerated.
Peppercorn rice; heat a wok and crackle the mustard seeds add black gram in it. Take off the flame and then add 1 tbsp. of the above spice mix in it. Pour this tempering over the pre cooked rice and mix well.
Serve this Spicy Black Peppercorn & Sesame Rice with plain yogurt or a veggie Raita.
4. Spicy Dry Mint Leaves Rice
Ingredients;
1 cup of dry mint
1/2 cup Bengal Gram (Channa Dal)
1/4 cup De-husked Black gram (dhuli rad dal)
1 tsp. Black peppercorn
1 tsp. Cumin seeds
9-10 dry red chillies
2 tsp. rock salt
1/4 tsp. asafoetida powder
For tempering;
(For making 2 servings)
1 tsp. de husked black gram
2 cups pre cooked rice
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
2 tsp. oil
Method; For getting one cup of dry mint you may need about 3 cups of fresh mint leaves. Pluck the mint leaves from the stem and wash it in clean water. Spread the leaves on a kitchen towel and let it dry under fan for an hour.
For drying the mint leaves you can use 3 methods;
Dry roast the leaves along with the peppercorn mix for about 2- 3 minutes till the moisture escapes. But this method makes the mint leaves loose its freshness and become black.
After washing the leaves dry them in shade for a week on a clean towel or paper. Go for this option if you have time in your hand. But this is the most perfect way to retain both the color and the flavor in mint.
Keep the mint leaves in microwave and dry it at high power for about 5-6 minutes. The leaves above are dried in MW and thus look green and retain the minty flavor.
Take out the dried leaves and crush it in your palm.
Dry roast the bengal gram and de husked black gram in a hot wok till the color changes to golden brown, it will take about 10 minutes on medium heat. Dry roast the peppercorns, red chillies and cumin for 2 minutes on medium heat.
Add all the fried gram, rock salt, asafoetida and spice mix along with the crushed mint in a blender and grind it into a coarse powder. Store the mint powder in a clean glass bottle and use it as and when required. It stays good for 4-5 months.
Mint rice; Heat oil in a wok and crackle mustard seeds and add the back gram. Put off the flame and add about 1 tbsp. of the above dry mint powder in the tempering. Pour this tempering over the pre cooked rice.
Serve this Spicy Dry Mint Leaves Rice with fresh yogurt Raita and poppadoms or potato chips.
These are just a few easy rice recipes from my treasure, be sure to check this space if you love your rice and time!
Notes;
I use a mix of boiled rice (a much healthy variety than the polished white rice) and brown rice in cooking.
The amount for spice mixes given in the ingredients will come for almost 12- 15 servings.
Make sure the cooked rice is fluffy and not of sticky consistency.
The Spice mixes can be made well ahead of time and would be really very handy when you are loggerheads with time.
A crispy Rice snack on my other blog Different Strokes;
Crispy rice and soya snack