Chana dal-vegetable masala rice

Chana dal sundal (cooked chana dal stir fried in spiced oil with mustard seeds) is one of my favourite things to eat as a side dish with rice and mor kuzhambu. I like to mix the rice and sundal together (as weird as that may sound), which is why I thought that this recipe would work. There's no mor kuzhambu involved this time, though. Just the rice and chana dal. Oh, and some vegetables.

If you think about it, recipes that combine protein, carbs and vegetables in a tasty package have to be top of the list for those occasions where you don't want to spend ages in the kitchen but also don't want to be tempted to order a takeaway. This recipe takes about 30 minutes from start to finish, especially if you prep and cook the vegetables while the rice is cooking. If you have leftover rice, this recipe is even quicker to make. And it tastes lovely.

A word of warning with regard to the chana dal - because it's easy to cook it to mush, I don't add any extra water while cooking it with the rice. I like my chana dal very slightly undercooked so that it still has a gentle bite. If you prefer it well soft, feel free to add another 1/8 cup of water while cooking the rice & dal.

Recipe for: Chana dal-vegetable masala rice

Ingredients:

1 cup basmati rice
1/4 cup chana dal
1 medium potato, chopped into small cubes
1/4 cup sliced runner beans (or green beans)
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 fat clove garlic, sliced
2 medium onions, sliced thin
1 tbsp oil
3-4 green chillies, sliced (to taste)
1 tsp chana masala/garam masala/curry powder
1 tsp cumin seeds
Salt to taste
Chopped coriander leaves for garnish
Roasted peanuts, for garnish (optional)

Method:

1. Wash and soak the basmati rice and chana dal together for 15 minutes. Then place in a saucepan along with 2 cups water over high heat. When the water begins to bubble and holes appear in the rice, stir the rice, turn down the heat to the lowest setting, and cover the pan with a lid placed over a clean tea towel (the towel will absorb the steam). Let it be for about 8-10 minutes, then turn off the heat. Let the rice stay undisturbed for 10 minutes so that it can absorb the moisture, then fluff it up.

2. While the rice is cooking, heat the oil in a saute pan until it shimmers, add the cumin seeds and fry them for 10 seconds, then add the green chillies and garlic and stir-fry for 30 seconds or so. Stir in the onions and cook them till they turn soft.

3. Now add the chopped tomato, potato and runner beans/green beans and stir well. Cover the pan and cook on simmer for 10-15 minutes, till the vegetables are done. Stir in the chana masala/garam masala/curry powder and salt to taste.

4. Finally, add the rice-chana dal and mix it in gently but thoroughly with the vegetable masala. Sprinkle with coriander leaves and peanuts, and serve hot with any raita.

Cabbage and peas rice

Cabbage is one of my favourite vegetables, pretty much no matter how it’s cooked – as long as that doesn’t mean cooking it to a stinky sulphur-y mush. I don’t care much for white cabbage, because (in my opinion) it’s stinkier and sulphur-ier than green cabbage. (It might not be any more or less smelly, you understand - I’m just quoting the opinion put forward by my nose). Purple cabbage is kinda like white cabbage except purple… and because it’s a pretty colour for cabbage, I don’t shun it.

But the cabbage I use the most is a pointy, tear-drop shaped green cabbage marketed under the name “sweetheart cabbage” in the supermarkets here. That said, I quite like the round green kind too. But sweetheart by name, sweetheart by taste – no, ok, that simile doesn’t work. There’s a good reason I’m not a world-famous writer, I suppose. 

Anyway, those are the three types of cabbage available - unless you count the round green cabbage as a different variety from the pointy green one… in which case, the cabbage count goes from three to four. I’m sure that, like potatoes, there are hundreds of different varieties of cabbage, all of which have individual names, again like potatoes. I probably just don’t know about them.


So, coming back to what I do know (a much shorter topic, haha), which is that I love cabbage, what I made with a combination of green and purple cabbage was a luvverly rice dish. With added peas. There's hardly anything that doesn't benefit from the addition of peas, unless it's a cake. Although I bet someone somewhere has tried a green peas cake and written about it on their blog... Ok, I'm off to google for green peas cake now, but you please feel free to read my recipe below and try it out, because it's really, really tasty - especially if you're a cabbage enthusiast like me.


Recipe for: Cabbage and peas rice


Ingredients:


2 cups cooked basmati rice
3 cups cabbage, finely shredded

1/2 cup peas (fresh or frozen)
1 tsp oil
2 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp asafoetida powder
a few fresh/frozen curry leaves
Salt to taste
Peanuts and chopped coriander leaves for garnish (optional)


For the masala powder:


1/2 tsp oil
1 htsp urad dal
1 htsp tuvar dal
1 htsp chana dal
1 htsp coriander seeds
4-5 dried red chillies (or to taste)
2 tbsp shredded fresh or dry coconut


Method:


1. Heat 1/2 tsp oil in a large pan.
Fry the masala powder ingredients (bar the coconut) over a low flame till the dals turn a pale golden brown, and the chillies are a shiny dark red. Remove to a plate and let cool.
2. Grind the cooled roasted dals along with the coconut to a fairly smooth powder.
Reserve.

3. Heat the remaining oil in the same pan and add the asafoetida powder, curry leaves and mustard seeds. Cover the pan and let the seeds pop.

4. Now add the shredded cabbage and peas and stir well.
Cover the pan tightly and let the vegetables cook on a very low heat for about 7 minutes, till the cabbage is cooked but still retains some bite.

5. Once the cabbage is done, add the ground coconut masala powder and salt to taste, and mix well.




6. Then add the rice and mix it in carefully until it is distributed evenly.
Add the chopped coriander (if using) and scatter the roasted peanuts over. Serve hot with cucumber raita and papad or crisps on the side.


RECIPE: CABBAGE AND PEAS RICE


Ingredients:
2 cups cooked basmati rice
3 cups cabbage, finely shredded
1/2 cup peas (fresh or frozen)
1 tsp oil
2 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp asafoetida powder
a few fresh/frozen curry
Salt to taste
Peanuts and chopped coriander leaves for garnish (optional)


For the masala powder:
1/2 tsp oil
1 htsp urad dal
1 htsp tuvar dal
1 htsp chana dal
1 htsp coriander seeds
4-5 dried red chillies (or to taste)
2 tbsp shredded fresh or dry coconut


Method:
1. Heat 1/2 tsp oil in a large pan and fry the masala powder ingredients (bar the coconut) over a low flame till the dals turn a pale golden brown, and the chillies are a shiny dark red. Remove to a plate and let cool.
2. Grind the cooled roasted dals along with the coconut to a fairly smooth powder. Reserve.
3. Heat the remaining oil in the same pan and add the asafoetida powder, curry leaves and mustard seeds. Cover the pan and let the seeds pop.
4. Now add the shredded cabbage and peas and stir well. Cover the pan tightly and let the vegetables cook on a very low heat for about 7 minutes, till the cabbage is cooked but still retains some bite.
5. Once the cabbage is done, add the ground coconut masala powder and salt to taste, and mix well.
6. Then add the rice and mix it in carefully until it is distributed evenly. Add the chopped coriander (if using) and scatter the roasted peanuts over. Serve hot with cucumber raita.

Lemony vegetable rice

Are you wondering why this recipe is described as a lemony vegetable rice rather than a vegetable-y lemon rice? Well, why ARE you wondering that? Which of the two do you think is catchier? Welllll??? Yeah, I thought so too. Now you know the intricate thought process behind the title of this post.

I could tell you about how I arrived at all my other post titles too, but you might get bored, and the last thing I want is for my little audience to be bored. Boredom is not the right reward for dogged faithfulness, is it? So let’s just say that the reasoning for any or all of them is usually not far off that for this post. I mean, if I were to tax my brain for the title, what would I do for the main body of the post?

Actually, the answer to that is: Probably what I’ve just done so far.

There it is, peoples of the world. I save my deepest thoughts for finding a cure for an itchy nose, not for blog posts or their titles. That, right there, is the naked truth. Not particularly exciting for something that is naked, is it? Kind of like getting a 65-year-old pot-bellied nondescript-looking man in a beefcake magazine centrespread where you were expecting… oooh, I dunno, say Hrithik Roshan or Colin Firth or Hugh Jackman or …  *slurrrrrrp*

Excuse me while I go off in search of a towel to mop up the drool.

But please, don’t wait for me to return, go right ahead to the recipe. I insist.

Recipe for: Lemony vegetable rice

Ingredients:

2 cups basmati rice, cooked and cooled
2 cups vegetables, chopped into little cubes (potatoes, carrots, green beans, peas, etc)
½ cup chopped red or white onion
2 cloves garlic
4-5 green chillies, sliced into thin rounds (add to taste or omit entirely)
1 tsp chana dal/kadalai paruppu
1 tsp urad dal/ulutham paruppu
1 tsp brown mustard seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp oil
Salt to taste
Lemon/lime juice to taste
Coriander leaves and roasted/fried peanuts for garnish

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a big pan, then add the chana dal/kadalai paruppu, urad dal/ulutham paruppu and mustard seeds. Cover and let the mustard seeds pop.

2. When the dals are golden brown, add the chopped garlic, the chillies and the onion along with the turmeric powder and fry on medium heat till the onions begin to turn translucent and soft.

3. Now add the chopped vegetables and sprinkle 3-4 tbsp water over them. Turn the heat down as low as it will go, then cover the pan and let the vegetables cook till they’re done – say 10-12 minutes.

4. Once the vegetables are cooked, get rid of any excess water by turning the heat up and stirring the vegetables about for 1-2 minutes.

5. Now add the cooked rice, sprinkle on salt to taste and add 3-4 tbsp of lemon/lime juice.

Mix carefully till the ingredients are well incorporated. Add more lime/lemon juice according to taste.

6. Garnish with coriander leaves and fried peanuts. Serve hot with potato crisps or other fried snacks or pickles of choice. (I like it with avakkai.)

RECIPE: LEMONY VEGETABLE RICE

Ingredients:

2 cups basmati rice, cooked and cooled
2 cups vegetables, chopped into little cubes (potatoes, carrots, green beans, peas, etc)
½ cup chopped red or white onion
2 cloves garlic
4-5 green chillies, sliced into thin rounds (add to taste or omit entirely)
1 tsp chana dal/kadalai paruppu
1 tsp urad dal/ulutham paruppu
1 tsp brown mustard seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp oil
Salt to taste
Lemon/lime juice to taste
Coriander leaves and roasted/fried peanuts for garnish

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a big pan, then add the chana dal/kadalai paruppu, urad dal/ulutham paruppu and mustard seeds. Cover and let the mustard seeds pop.
2. When the dals are golden brown, add the chopped garlic, the chillies and the onion along with the turmeric powder and fry on medium heat till the onions begin to turn translucent and soft.
3. Now add the chopped vegetables and sprinkle 2-3 tbsp water over them. Turn the heat down as low as it will go, then cover the pan and let the vegetables cook till they’re done – say 10-12 minutes.
4. Once the vegetables are cooked, get rid of any excess water by turning the heat up and stirring the vegetables about for 1-2 minutes.
5. Now add the cooked rice, sprinkle on salt to taste and add 3-4 tbsp of lemon/lime juice. Mix carefully till the ingredients are well incorporated. Add more lime/lemon juice according to taste.
6. Garnish with coriander leaves and fried peanuts. Serve hot with potato crisps or other fried snacks, or pickles of choice.

Roasted jalapeno sweetcorn rice

Fresh sweetcorn – yum.

Chillies – yum.

Rice – yum.

Put ‘em all together – yum yum yum.

That’s the sort of maths I find easy, and that’s why I made this recipe from the eCurry website. I love the website, I love the recipes and the food, and I love the photos of the food. I can’t think of a single thing I don’t like there.

I've no idea what hatch chiles are, so I had to substitute jalapenos instead, but I think that was the only change I made from the original.

I made the chilli-flavoured oil from scratch, following her recipe exactly. (If you want to do it that way too, click the link to her recipe – there’s no point me repeating it here as I didn’t change a thing.) So while the home-made chilli-flavoured oil was nice, I do think that store-bought chilli oil would save on time and trouble (and some coughing and evil chilli fumes in the house as well).

Certainly if I wanted to make this rice again on a whim, I wouldn’t be able to if I had to start the chilli oil 24 hours ahead. Whims don’t really make for forward planning, and my life is very whimsical.

At this point I have to hope that the word whimsical means what I want it to mean – which is that my life runs on whims – and not whatever definition you get for “whimsical” in the dictionary… unless that definition includes “full of whims”.

Now, if I have ruined the word “whim” for you as much as I have for myself by making it seem suddenly weird, you are ready for the recipe.

Recipe for: Roasted jalapeno sweetcorn rice


Ingredients:

6 jalapenos
1 whole ear fresh corn
6 cloves garlic
a big handful of fresh coriander leaves
1 tsp cumin seeds + 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
2-3 cups cooked basmati rice
2 tbsp oil + 1 tbsp oil
1 medium onion, diced
Chilli-flavoured oil
fresh lime
salt
1 can mixed pulses/beans (about a cup), rinsed under cold water and drained

Method:

1. Slice the kernels from the corn with a sharp knife and separate the kernels if necessary.
2. Lightly toast them on a dry skillet till the water evaporates and they acquire light brown spots.

Reserve.

3. Roast the jalapenos on an open flame till the skin is blistered all over.
4. Place the jalapenos in a ziploc bag and close tightly. Allow peppers to steam for 10-15 min. When cooled, the skin will peel off easily from the flesh.
5. Puree roasted peppers, peeled and chopped garlic, 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, fresh coriander and 1 tsp oil till smooth.

Set aside.

6. Heat a thick bottomed pan. Add the 1/2 tsp of cumin seeds and lightly roast them till they are a shade darker and fragrant.

7. Add 2 tbsp oil and add the onions. Fry the onions at medium heat till they are tender, and starting to brown at the edges.
8. Now add the beans and cook them all together with the onion for 5 minutes or so.

9. Next, add the roasted pepper puree to the pan.

Add salt to taste and cook at high heat for 5-6 minutes till the oil starts to separate and the puree thickens.

10. Add the corn and the rice and stir them together for a couple of minutes till the green sauce is well combined with the rice.

11. Cook for about 3 more minutes, tossing frequently but carefully so as not to break the rice.
12. Drizzle the chili oil over the rice and stir.

13. Serve hot with lime wedges on the side so that people can squeeze over the juice to taste.


RECIPE: ROASTED JALAPENO SWEETCORN RICE

Ingredients:
6 jalapenos
1 whole ear fresh corn
6 cloves garlic
a big handful of fresh coriander leaves
1 tsp cumin seeds + 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
2-3 cups cooked basmati rice
2 tbsp oil + 1 tbsp oil
1 medium onion, diced
Chilli-flavoured oil
fresh lime
salt
1 can mixed pulses/beans (about a cup), rinsed under cold water and drained

Method:
1. Slice the kernels from the corn with a sharp knife and separate the kernels if necessary. 2. Lightly toast them on a dry skillet till the water evaporates and they acquire light brown spots. Reserve.
3. Roast the jalapenos on an open flame till the skin is blistered all over.
4. Place the jalapenos in a ziploc bag and close tightly. Allow peppers to steam for 10-15 min. When cooled, the skin will peel off easily from the flesh.
5. Puree roasted peppers, peeled and chopped garlic, 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, fresh coriander and 1 tsp oil till smooth. Set aside.
6. Heat a thick bottomed pan. Add the 1/2 tsp of cumin seeds and lightly roast them till they are a shade darker and fragrant.
7. Add 2 tbsp oil and add the onions. Fry the onions at medium heat till they are tender, and starting to brown at the edges.
8. Now add the beans and cook them all together with the onion for 5 minutes or so.
9. Next, add the roasted pepper puree to the pan. Add salt to taste and cook at high heat for 5-6 minutes till the oil starts to separate and the puree thickens.
10. Add the corn and the rice and stir them together for a couple of minutes till the green sauce is well combined with the rice.
11. Cook for about 3 more minutes, tossing frequently but carefully so as not to break the rice.
12. Drizzle the chili oil over the rice and stir.
13. Serve hot with lime wedges on the side so that people can squeeze over the juice to taste.

Karela rice

I suppose I should be embarrassed about even considering this a recipe - and I suppose I am, a bit. But if I didn't write about it, there wouldn't be a post. There needs to be a post, and many more posts, if I am to reach my target of 500 posts. Not 500 posts this year (I wish!), but 500 posts in total since I started this blog. Looked at it that way, my output isn't particularly noteworthy, really. But it's all I have.

Anyway, I wish I could remember which blog it was where a commenter had mentioned that she always mixed raw karela with some yogurt and microwaved it for 3 minutes before going on to cook the vegetable on the hob.. and this way the karela was NEVER bitter.

I thought I’d try that out too, but I’m not sure how much it helped, if it did at all. Maybe it reduced the bitterness a little - but then I don’t have a huge problem with the bitterness of the vegetable when it’s shallow fried, especially as a side dish with rice. In any case, unless you try it cooked with yogurt and without, and compare the two side-by-side, it’s pretty hard to quantify any reduction in the level of bitterness in any useful way. Next time, maybe.

The karela rice only happened because I forgot to make sambar or any other kuzhambu, and I didn’t have any paruppu podi or thogayal ready – and only realized this when I got hungry for my dinner.

No problem – I mixed the karela dry-fry with the rice and called it “karela rice” and had that with yogurt, thereby getting around the problem of the missing sambar. Inspired innovation? Or merely good spin put on a pathetic situation? You decide.

Recipe for: Karela rice


Ingredients:

1 cup basmati rice, cooked and cooled
2 medium karela (bitter melon/gourd)
2 tbsp yogurt/curd
1 tsp mustard seeds
5-6 fresh curry leaves
2 tbsp oil
Salt to taste
3 tbsp vegetable spice mix

Method:

1. Halve the karela lengthwise, then slice it into thin half-moons.

2. Toss the pieces with the yogurt/curd until they are evenly coated. Microwave, covered, for 3 minutes. Reserve.

3. Heat the oil in a pan and add the curry leaves and mustard seeds. Let the seeds pop on meium-high heat, then add the karela pieces and stir well.

4. Let the karela cook on low heat for 8-10 minutes, till they are soft and cooked. Then turn the heat up to medium so that they can become a little crisp and brown. Add salt to taste and mix in.
5. Now add the 3 tbsp vegetable spice mix and stir well.

6. Now mix in the rice gently with the karela, so as not to break the grains. Turn the heat down to low and let the rice heat up thoroughly. Serve hot with raita and papad or potato chips.

RECIPE: KARELA RICE

Ingredients:
1 cup basmati rice, cooked and cooled
2 medium karela (bitter melon/gourd)
2 tbsp yogurt/curd
1 tsp mustard seeds
5-6 fresh curry leaves
2 tbsp oil
Salt to taste
3 tbsp vegetable spice mix

Method:
1. Halve the karela lengthwise, then slice it into thin half-moons.
2. Toss the pieces with the yogurt/curd until they are evenly coated. Microwave, covered, for 3 minutes. Reserve.
3. Heat the oil in a pan and add the curry leaves and mustard seeds. Let the seeds pop on meium-high heat, then add the karela pieces and stir well.
4. Let the karela cook on low heat for 8-10 minutes, till they are soft and cooked. Then turn the heat up to medium so that they can become a little crisp and brown. Add salt to taste and mix in.
5. Now add the rice to the karela along with 3 tbsp of the vegetable spice mix. Mix it in gently so as not to break the rice grains.
6. Turn the heat down to low and let the rice heat up thoroughly. Serve hot with raita and papad or potato chips.

Sesame soyabean pulao

Sometimes what you think is a brilliantly innovative idea turns out to be somewhat less than that. Even if not a total flop, the idea certainly isn’t close to what was visualised. For instance - I recently bought a pack of Lapsang Souchong tea (no, that was not the innovative part, that was just what I thought was the brilliant part. Wait for it, people, wait for it. The point will make its grand debut further down this post. Watch for the trumpet fanfare that will announce its arrival.)

Over the years I’d heard a lot about Lapsang Souchong. It was the name that attracted me first, to tell the truth. Lapsang Souchong. Such a treat for the vocal cords. Lapsang Souchong. Lapsang Souchong. Lapsang Souchong. (It made me feel sophisticated just saying the name.) So anyway, I’d read about how this tea embodied the essence of refinement, how delicately smoky it tasted, how it was loved by the top connoisseurs of tea in general, and so on. In the past I was not drawn to the idea of tea at all, even with milk and sugar – and the idea of drinking tea that had neither milk nor sugar seemed incomprehensible. Not even a genuine tea-connoisseur favourite uncle could tempt me to try drinking tea black.

But of late, since I have been drinking fruit teas and green tea, I thought that my palate ok, that *I* was finally sophisticated enough for this supposed queen of teas. It seemed promising enough when I bought the box because I could smell the smokiness even without opening it.

As I poured hot – not boiling, as specified by the instructions – water on the teabag in my mug, my senses were assailed by the lovely smoky aroma. Alas, the tea itself was rather too bitter for me. Evidently my palate (please note this – my palate, not me) had not reached the level of sophistication required to drink Lapsang Souchong. (Perhaps I should have used a fine bone china cup from which to drink the tea, rather than a Tesco mug that had “Tea Coffee Tea Coffee” printed all over it in striking black and white stripes? Ah well, we will not make this discovery in a hurry, and enquiring readers will just have to wait till I can muster the willpower – and the requisite refinement of the five senses - to try Lapsang Souchong again. From a posh china cup.)

So anyway, the remaining 39 tea bags sat in their box in a drawer, perfuming the air delicately with their smokiness whenever the drawer was opened, for a couple of weeks before I had my next *trumpet fanfare* idea. (Yes, folks, this was Part 2 - the innovative part – of the original brilliant idea.)

I have liked the flavour of smoked food, ever since, years and years back in a Maori village in New Zealand, I tried it for the first time at the traditional “hangi” or feast. (That’s another story, which you can find here.) So I was suddenly struck by the thought that I could use a Lapsang Souchong tea-bag while cooking some soya beans (the dried kind, after first soaking the beans overnight). Two birds with one stone, and all that... I could use up the tea bags eventually, and hopefully the lovely smoked flavour would infuse into the soya beans.

Uh...

That innovative idea? Innovative, perhaps, but sadly not brilliant in its outcome. The smoky taste did NOT get into the beans or the cooking liquid, but the tea did turn the beans a beautiful (NOT!) brownish grey. Overall, I would say that pressure-cooking the beans with a Lapsang Souchong teabag did not add anything in the way of extra flavour, but also, let it be said, it did not detract from the taste of the beans. I was going to make a superbly and subtly smoky soya bean chole sort of thing, but in the event, I decided to do something else with the tea-cooked beans.

And that is how this sesame soyabean pulao happened. Looks quite nice, doesn't it? It tasted as good as it looks - and I personally believe it looks verrrrry good!

Mind it!



Recipe for: Sesame soyabean pulao



Ingredients:

4-5 cups cooked basmati rice, cooled
1-1/2 cups cooked soyabeans
2 medium onions, sliced thin
4-5 green chillies, sliced into strips (to taste)



3 tbsp sesame seeds, crushed lightly in a mortar & pestle
1/4 cup concentrated tomato puree
1" stick cinnamon
1 star anise
1 green cardamom
1 black cardamom (optional)
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp oil
Salt to taste
2 tbsp chopped coriander for garnish

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a pan big enough to comfortably take 4 cups cooked rice. When the oil is hot, add the cumin seeds, cinnamon stick, cardamoms and star anise. Let them brown gently (about a minute) till their aroma is released.



2. Now add the sesame seeds and let them fry till they begin to turn a pale brown.





3. Add the onions and stir fry on medium heat till the onions begin to turn soft.



4. Pour in the tomato puree.



5. Mix it in well,



then add the cooked soyabeans.



Stir them in gently till they are completely covered with the onion masala. The masala should not be runny or watery, or the pulao will not taste right.



6. Add the chopped coriander and stir it in, along with salt to taste.



7. Now mix the cooked rice with the soyabean masala, taking care not to break up the grains.



8. Serve hot with any raita.

Minty golden bean pulao

I wonder if there comes a point when it's no longer a thrill to be able to go into your garden and pick your own vegetables, herbs or fruit fresh, to use in your own kitchen (or even to see used in someone else’s kitchen, come to that) for your own family's consumption. I haven't come to that stage and I don't see myself ever doing so, if only because I don’t grow as many edible things as I’d like to because of space constraints and my own limitations as a gardener.

Given that, every little thing that I use from my garden is a source of huge pleasure – the ripe blueberries that I pick off in ones and twos and eat rightaway (not enough of them to do anything else!); the chillies that I’ve picked and used; the herbs (3 types of mint, sage, thyme, chives, parsley, coriander and 3 types of basil), the spinach beet leaves… all of these seem to taste better for having grown in my containers.

This year, for the first time, I tried growing some dwarf yellow French beans – I have six plants that give me a handful of golden-yellow tender beans every week. Usually I’m happy to boil them, and eat them straightaway without further ado – they’re that good (and I like fresh French beans that much). But this time I wanted to use them in a recipe, and given that I’d got a bunch of mint (it really is growing like crazy this year) from my garden, the last of the coriander and some fresh green chillies, I thought to combine them all in one recipe – along with fresh green peas as well.

So that is what this is – a very green(fingered) pulao recipe.

Recipe for: Minty golden bean pulao



Ingredients:

1 cup basmati rice, washed and soaked for 20 minutes



1/2 cup golden (or green) French beans, sliced on the diagonal
1/2 cup fresh green peas
1 cup loosely packed mint leaves
1/2 cup loosely packed coriander leaves
2 tbsp lime/lemon juice
5 baby plum tomatoes (or 1 small tomato), chopped
2 medium onions, sliced thin
5 purple shallots, sliced thin



4 fresh green chillies (or to taste)
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander powder
1" piece ginger, sliced
Salt to taste
1 tsp oil
2 cups water

Method:

1. Grind the mint, coriander, green chillies and ginger to a smooth paste along with the lemon juice. Reserve.



2. In a pan (preferably one which has a tight-fitting lid), heat the oil. Fry the cumin seeds and coriander powder for 30 seconds,



then add the sliced shallots and onions and stir-fry on high heat till the onions start to turn soft.



Stir in the tomatoes and let them cook for a couple of minutes.



3. Add the green peas and the sliced beans and mix them into the onions, stir-frying for 2-3 minutes.



Then add the ground mint-coriander paste



and let it fry till the raw smell goes (about 3 minutes).



4. Add the soaked rice (without the water), stirring it into the vegetable mixture, keeping the heat med-high. Be careful not to let it "catch" and burn.



5. Once the rice begins to turn opaque, add 2 cups water and salt to taste.



Bring this to a bubbling boil, then turn the heat right down and cover the pan with the lid. Let it cook on the lowest heat for 20 minutes, then turn the heat off and let the pulao sit undisturbed for another 15 minutes.



After that, uncover the pan, fluff up the rice with a fork and serve with raita and/or something crunchy on the side.