This recipe is for Mr. C. When he gets bored of eating north Indian food or spicy food, he’ll urge me to cook one of the many rice dishes we eat on the coastal line / southern parts of India. I thought of him all the time I was making this. :)
As I was making it, I found the colors and aroma interesting, but nothing wow’ed me. Yet. That came later. When I started eating it. (You can guess from the look of my plate, right? That I actually started eating it, got up in between and took the picture!)
Last weekend when I went to buy Groceries, I found a MTR Vangi Bhath (Eggplant rice) spice powder at the Indian store here in Nashville.
But, I had no eggplants – I didn’t remember to pick them. I did have a few of these veggies below. I do not know what you call them here but back home they are called as Parwal (in Hindi), Tendli (Konkani / Marathi).
I also had ginger and the red/yellow/orange peppers. Together they created magic!
(Hmmm. I think I’ve given enough details for you to figure out the rest of the recipe already. But for the benefit of undomestic Goddesses and Gods amongst you all here goes…)
You’ll need:
2 cups of cooked white rice
About 2 tbsp of finely chopped onion
2 Parwals – chopped into little round circles
1 each of red, yellow and orange peppers – finely chopped
1 green chilly – finely chopped
2 tsp. of Vangi Bhath powder
1 tbsp oil
About 1 tsp each of mustard seeds and split black gram for tadka
1/2 cup water
About 1/4 tsp of Grated ginger
Salt to taste
To prepare:
1. Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan. Add mustard seeds and split black gram. Once they splutter and the gram start turning golden, add onion and fry till translucent.
2. Add rest of the veggies (peppers, parwal, green chilly) and fry nicely.
3. Add Vangi Bhath spice powder, ginger and mix well.
4. Add water and let it cook till the veggies are almost done.
5. Now in a microwave-safe bowl add this mixture to the cooked white rice. Adjust salt and microwave for about 5 mins. Let it sit in the microwave for another 2 mins or so. That’s how I did it. OR You could cook the entire thing in the pan itself, stirring continuously, so it does not stick to the bottom.
Serve with Nachos and Salsa. Curd. Pickle. Papad. You have plenty of choices and each one tastes as great as the other.
Try it and let me know how you like it!!! Happy cooking :)
