Vegetable Pulao Rice

This is a classic variation on the regular plain white rice and a sneaky way of getting your kids to eat veggies.

Note! this is not a fried rice. With a fried rice, you boil white rice first and then stir fry in the veggies and add to the rice. This rice is cooked along with the veggies. A one pot dish that saves you a lot of washing up too!. I have cooked this in my regular pressure cooker in exactly 10 minutes! A quick and easy recipe using store bought frozen veggies. I usually keep a packet handy in my freezer for exactly this!

Vegetable Pulao Rice

Ingredients:

4 cups of uncooked rice

3 tbsps of oil

2 medium onions chopped fine

1 tomato chopped fine

9 1/2 cups of water

1 cinnamon stick

3 whole cardammom pods

4-5 whole cloves

1 mace (outer covering of the nutmeg)

5 maggi stock cubes. (There are usually 2 in a small box)

1 cup of frozen mixed vegetables 

1/4 tsp of turmeric powder

1 tsp of cumin seeds

Method: 

Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Add in the cumin seeds. When you start to smell their aroma, add the rest of the whole spices, i.e. the cinnamon stick, cardamom, cloves and mace. 

Add in the onions and saute till nice and golden. Add the chopped tomato next and the stock cubes. Saute till the cubes have melted and been absorbed into the onion tomato mixture. 

Add in the rice next, and the water. I usually add 1 1/2 cup water more than the doubled amount, so that the rice can fluff up nicely. Add in the frozen mixed vegetables. I usually throw them in straight from the freezer without defrosting. If you don't like mixed veggies, you can substitute it with just corn, or peas, whatever you fancy.

Give it a quick mix and then close the pressure cooker. Remove the whistle. This recipe does not require you to use the whistle of the pressure cooker. 

Put the heat on the highest setting. Stay in the kitchen as you will need to monitor it from now on. When you start to see a steady stream of steam coming out from the vent (wait for those little bursts of steam to flow in a straight line), then lower and time for 10 mins. 

As soon as 10 mins are over, open the rice cooker and remove from the heat. 

Note! These timings and water quantities are for cooking in a pressure cooker and may vary if you cook it in a regular casserole dish.

You will find most of the spices have floated their way to the top. This makes it a lot easier to remove them at this stage so that the kids don't make a fuss later about biting into them. 

Fluff up the rice with a fork and your rice is ready to eat. This recipe will stay nicely in the fridge too, for a couple of days. 

Vegetable Pulao Rice

Rice Pulao Parathas

Love parathas, but looking to try out some new versions of it? Look no further. A friend of mine gave me this idea and it instantly got me hooked. My kids love parathas and chappatis, and they love the mince, potato or paneer stuffed ones. Though not too keen on the mooli (daikon) ones or any such strong flavoured ones.

I was looking to find alternative stuffings so when I heard about this recipe I knew I had to try it out. She made this with white cooked boiled rice and some left over dal but mentioned that you could use leftover khichdi (pulao, or vegetable rice) as well.

I happened to have some pulao rice sitting in the fridge (which I also added a bit of the orange masoor dal to, when making) and since the kids had already eaten the pulao the day before, I thought it would make an interesting change for them.

I made roughly around 20 or so of them, and was hoping to have a few left over to put in their lunchbox, but there wasn't a crumb left! All gone! Vanished! Into their little tummies.

So here's the recipe. My advise would be to add ingredients slowly as you may need a little more or a little less, depending on how moist or soft your rice is, and how much quantity you have leftover.

Rice Pulao Parathas

Ingredients:
5 cups of cooked pulao rice (you could use khichdi, or just dal mixed with rice)
1/2 tsp of salt to taste
2 cups of wheat flour and some more for dusting.
3 -4 tbsps of water
4 tbsps of ghee and some more for frying.

Method:
Warm the left over rice, so that it's easier to mash. Mash it nicely and add the salt and ghee. Add the flour slowly to the mixture and see how it binds together. You can add more or less than what I specified. Add the tbsps of water as and when you need it to help in the binding process. Form a big ball of dough, similar in texture to a regular chappati dough.

Form smaller dough balls and keep ready for rolling. Cover with a tea towel so they don't dry out.

Keep your rolling pin and board ready and your frying pan heated on a medium heat. Keep a small quarter plate of flour for dusting. I also used some ghee for frying. You could use oil instead if you would like it to be more healthier.

Dust one small ball in some flour and then roll the ball into a nice round shape. Put on the frying pan and add just a little ghee to help it get that nice paratha like texture. Keep doing the same for all the balls. Once the parathas are made, store in a foodwarmer container lined with cloth, to absorb any moisture.

Spinach And Bacon Rice

This is a great way to get your kids to eat their veggies. Most kids love rice and mine in particular love this recipe. You can omit the bacon to keep it vegetarian, or substitute it for sausages or chorizo.

Spinach and Bacon Rice

Ingredients:
2 bundles of spinach leaves (you can use just one bundle too)
1 large onion chopped fine
3-4 cloves of garlic chopped fine
few strips of bacon chopped fine
4 cups rice
stock cube 

Method:
Wash the rice till the water runs clear, and soak for half an hour. Finely chop the spinach leaves. If the stalks are too thick, I do not add them.

 In a pressure cooker, heat oil, add in the bacon and saute for a little while till it releases some of the oil. Add in the onions and the garlic, and saute some more. Add in the finely chopped spinach. The spinach will release some of its natural water and reduce in size. Add in the cubes (I used two boxes of maggi cubes - each box contains two cubes).
Add in the water. I added double the quantity of water + 1 extra cup. So if you are using 4 cups of rice, then 8 cups of water and 1 more. Thats 9 in total.

Take off the whistle from the lid of the pressure cooker. I make my rice in the pressure cooker without the whistle. 

Close the cooker (without the whistle) and turn the heat to its highest setting. After about 5 mins, you should see a steady stream of steam coming out from the lid (wait till the steam flows up in a straight line).  At this point, lower the heat to the lowest setting and time for 10 mins. After 10 mins, open the cooker and fluff the rice with a fork. Its ready to serve..

Spinach and bacon rice

Red Pumpkin Fried Rice

This dish would go great with a roast chicken. The thyme and pumpkin together make a divine combination.

As I recommend for all stir fried rice, using a day old rice is best, as the rice should be cold when you add it in, so that you don't get sticky fried rice.

 Bacon is a good addition to any rice especially if the rest of the ingredients are vegetarian, to give it a slight hint of meatiness to the dish.

Red Pumpkin Fried Rice

Ingredients:
cooked boiled rice
red pumpkin, peeled and diced into 1/4 inch thickness
pepper to taste
bacon, cut into very fine pieces
2 onions chopped fine
3-4 cloves of garlic chopped fine
stock cube to taste
1 tsp of dry thyme
chives for garnish

Method:
Preheat the oven to 400degrees fahrenheit. Line your baking sheet with foil (shiny side up) and put in the cubes of pumpkin. I didn't use any salt at this point, but did sprinkle on some freshly ground pepper. Drizzle a bit of olive oil over the pumpkin and put it in the oven for 30-45 mins. After 30 mins check if its done or whether it needs the extra 15 mins.

NOTE: 
I usually like to line my baking trays with foil, as it just makes it easier to wash up later, by simply throwing out the foil.

In a casserole, fry the bacon till its slightly crisp, and add in the onions and garlic. When translucent, add the cube. Add the rice. Don't fidget with it too much as you dont want to break up the grains of rice. Lastly add in the pumpkin pieces and the dry thyme. Again just use a folding motion and gently stir it in. Garnish with chives.

Bacon And Pea Fried Rice

This is a simple recipe that will go with any continental style cuisine or even an Asian one. A key to note with all stir fried rice, is to have a day old white rice that has been chilled in the fridge and added cold to the stir fry. This helps maintain the shape of the grains of rice and prevents it from all sticking together. For this recipe I used petite pois (baby peas). They melt in your mouth and the kids don't mind eating these as they are much sweeter than the bigger ones.

Bacon and Pea Fried Rice

Ingredients:
Precooked white rice for 6 portions
3-4 cloves of garlic chopped fine
2 onions chopped fine
3 maggie stock cubes(adjust according to quantity cooked)
Bacon cut fine
Peas, frozen

Method:
In a large non stick pot, fry the bacon in a little oil till slightly crisp. Remove and add the onions and garlic in the same pot. When transluscent, add the cubes and bacon and peas straight from the freezer. Lastly add the white rice and give it a quick toss about. Don't mess with it too much at this point coz you don't want it to get mushy.