Karuveppilai Sadam / Curry Leaf Rice

Hello readers! After a break to India and a month of non-stop deadlines at work, I am back to blogging after a long hiatus. Every morning I am trying to decide on a quick and hassle free lunch menu which doesn’t require 500 vessels which would be later piled in the sink! Readymade rice mixes are great for quick lunches, but they are just not tasty enough in the long run. So I browsed my pinterest board for a this karuveppilai rice recipe from ticklingpalates.com. This is a quick lunch option when you have loads of fresh curry leaves in stock. 

Karuveppilai Sadam / Curry Leaf Rice:

Ingredients:

Cooked Rice – 2 cups

Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp

Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

Urad dal – 1 tsp

Cumin seeds – 1/2 tsp

Whole dry red chillies – 2

Cashew nuts – 2 to 3 tbsp

Oil / Ghee – 3 tbsp

Salt – to taste

Roasted peanuts/cashews - optional

To grind:

Curry leaf / Karuveppilai – 1 cup (tightly packed)

Urad Dal – 2 tbsp

Coriander seeds – 2 tsp

Fenugreek seeds – 1/4 tsp

Black whole pepper – 1 tsp

Whole dry red chillies – 4 – 5

Tamarind – small ball

Oil – 1 tbsp

Method:

• Heat a pan with little oil, add the urad dal, coriander seeds, whole dry red chillies, pepper corn, fenugreek, tamarind  and roast till they all become golden in color taking care not to burn them.
• Add in the curry leaves to the pan and roast, tossing frequently. Remove from pan and let it cool.
• Add a little water and grind the roasted spices into a smooth paste.
• Heat oil in a pan; add mustard seeds, turmeric powder,  cumin seeds, urad dal, whole red chillies, a few curry leaves and sauté for a minute. Now add the ground spice paste and sauté for a minute or two.
• Add the cooked rice, salt, roasted peanuts and mix gently. 

Spinach Pulav - with Brown Basmathi Rice

I got some brown basmathi rice a few weeks back. And I have been waiting to try it, so finally made some pulav for lunch. I didn’t have any coriander at hand, so decided to use fresh baby spinach and some capsicums to make this easy and tasty pulav.

Ingredients:

• Brown Basmathi Rice - 1 and 1/4 cups (soak for 10 min)
• Spinach – ¾ of a bunch,  chopped with the stems cut off
• Onion – 1, cut lengthwise
• Capsicum -1,  diced lenghtwise
• Carrots -1 diced  into cubes
• Potato - 1 dices in cubes 
• Salt – 3-4tespoons

Grind together:

• Garlic: 8 cloves
• Dry red chilli - 9
• Ginger-1/2 inch piece
• Spinach - handful

Directions:

• Heat 3 tablespoons oil/ghee in a pressure cooker.
• Fry some cardamom, cinnamon stick, cloves and some bay leaf.
• Then add the onions, carrots, capsicum, potato, peas.
• Drain the soaked rice, and add to the cooker along with the veggies, and fry well.
• Add ground paste, and fry for a few minutes. 
• Now add the spinach leaves and salt.
• Add 1 and 3/4 cups water. (Ratio 1 cup rice=1 ½ cups water)
• Close the cooker, after the first whistke, pressure cook for 12 min in low flame.
• Open the cooker, and mix the rice gently. Serve with yogurt raita.