12 - Easy Breezy Vegetable Fried Rice

This is something I always make when I am either too lazy to do any major cooking, or I am pressed for time. And I love the colours!

Ingredients

4 cups of cooked basmati rice

4 spring onions, finely chopped

1 capsicum (green bell pepper) , chopped

1 cup frozen peas & carrots

1 tbsp soya sauce

1 tsp red chilly sauce

2 tbsp gingelly oil or peanut oil

1 tbsp black pepper powder

salt, to taste

Preparation

Heat the oil in a wok. Once its very hot, add the spring onion whites and fry for a minute.

Add the rest of the vegetables and fry them on high heat for 3-4 minutes. Add the soya sauce and red chilly sauce and combine well. Fry for 2 minutes.

Add salt and pepper and mix well. Add cooked rice and combine everything together.Spread it all over the pan and leave this in the pan for a minute or 2.

Turn off the flame and garnish with chopped spring onion greens.

Serve hot and Enjoy!! :)







8 - Capsicum (Green Bell Pepper) Rice

I havent been feeling too well today. I woke up sneezing, and haven't been able to stop sneezing since. Allergies,allergies!

So, I was in no mood to cook anything time consuming. So I made this quick and easy capsicum rice, that can be served with just yogurt or pickle. The rice is flavoured with butter and crunchy with capsicum. A quick meal thats a total keeper!

Ingredients

3 cups cooked basmati rice
2 large capsicums (green bell pepper), chopped
1 tomato, roughly chopped
2 tblsp butter
1 bunch coriander leaves
3 green chillies
3 large cloves of garlic
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
curry leaves
1 tsp urad dal (split black gram)
1" cinnamon stick
1 cup grated coconut (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

Make a paste from the coriander leaves, garlic and green chillies.
Heat butter in a pan on medium heat. Add mustard seeds and cumin seed, let them splutter.
Add cinnamon stick and urad dal and saute till the dal turns brown.
Add curry leaves and 2 tblsps of the coriander-green chilly paste. Saute.
Add the chopped tomato and capsicums and fry till the tomatoes are soft, approximately 7 minutes. The capsicums should retain the crunchy texture.
Add salt and pepper to this and mix well.
Reduce the heat and add the cooked rice to this and mix. Cook for 2 minutes.
You can add the grated coconut (optional) now, and mix it well with the rice. Turn off the heat.

Serve hot with any curry, or just plain yogurt and pickle.

Enjoy!!

2 - Tomato Rice

"If life deals you lemons, make lemonade; if it deals you tomatoes, make Bloody Marys!"

Nope. I decided to make Tomato Rice, nice and spicy.

So life (actually my mom) dealt me with a whole lot of tomatoes this week. I happened to mention to my mom how difficult it was to get good fresh tomatoes nowadays, and typically forgot to mention that I did find some in the local super market and bought a kilo of it already. Well, on her next grocery shopping trip, she got an extra kilo of tomatoes for me too. And so there I was left with almost 2 kilos. I needed to use them before it went rotten. And thats how the "Tomato Rice" idea popped up in my head. :) We love it here, even my 4 year old.

So here's the recipe

Ingredients

Basmati Rice - 1.5 cups

Tomatoes - 5, chopped roughly

Onion - 2 , chopped finely

Green Chillies - 4 ,chopped *adjust according to taste

Garlic - 3 cloves , chopped
Bay Leaves - 2
Peppercorn - 5-6

Cumin seeds - 1 tblsp

Tumeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Oil - 2 tblsp
Water - 2 cups,boiled

Preparation

Heat the oil and add cumin seeds. Once they start to splutter, add the bay leaves and peppercorn.
Add the garlic and green chillies to this, and saute for a minute or so.
Add the chopped onions to this. Saute till the onions start turning brown. * You can add a pinch of salt to this - it helps the onion cook faster *
Once the onions are cooked, add to it the turmeric powder and garam masala. Saute this for another minute.
Add the chopped tomatoes. Close the lid, and let it cook on medium flame for about 10 minutes, or until the tomatoes turn pulpy.
Add the rice to the tomato mixture and fry for about 2-3 minutes.

Then add the water, close the lid and let it cook for about 10-15 minutes or until all the water is absorbed.

Stir the rice together.
*You can optionally add a handful of coriander leaves at this point, and mix it together with the rice.*

Serve with raita and papads.
Enjoy!!