If you have rice leftover from the previous day, here is what you can do to give it a delicious twist. All you need are some herbs, spices and vegetables. Here are a few recipes that are tasty and that make your life easy.
Puli Saadham
Ingredients
Leftover rice: three cups
Tamarind (size of a small lemon): soaked and strained
Shallots (peeled and chopped): Ten
Turmeric: a pinch
Salt: To taste
Red chillies: to taste
Roasted and powdered fenugreek: a pinch
Mustard and curry leaves: for tempering
Gingelly oil: for cooking
Method
Add tamarind pulp, salt, turmeric and fenugreek powder into the leftover rice before putting it away in the fridge.
The following day, take gingelly oil in a kadai. Heat and temper with mustard seeds. Add chopped shallots and saute till tender. Add the curry leaves and red chillies.
Stir in the soaked rice, and cook covered for a couple of minutes till the raw smell of tamarind is gone.
Drizzle some gingelly oil on top, check for seasoning and mix well.
Ideal for a packed lunch. Serve with papad or vadaam.
Vegetable rice
Ingredients
Leftover rice: three cups
Beans (finely chopped): one cup
Carrot (finely chopped): one cup
Peas: half a cup
Potato (diced): half a cup
Caspsicum (chopped): quarter cup
Corn (shelled): half a cup
Coriander and curry leaves: for garnish
Salt: to taste
Seasoning powder: to taste
Oil: to cook
Turmeric: a pinch
Mustard: for tempering
Grated coconut: two teaspoons
For the seasoning powder
Urad dal: one tea spoon
Bengal gram: one tea spoon
Fenugreek seeds: 10
Red chilli: to taste
Dry roast all ingredients and grind coarsely.
Method
Heat oil in a kadai and temper with mustard seeds and curry leaves. Add vegetables and cook till half done.
Add the seasoning powder and salt and allow to cook fully.
Add the coconut and coriander leaves and cool. Add the leftover rice to this mixture and stir well with a spoonful of ghee.
Serve hot with vadaam.
Note: You can add a pinch of jaggery to lend a dash of sweetness.
Herbed rice
Ingredients
Leftover rice (preferably basmati): three cups
Leeks (finely chopped): one
Green and yellow zucchini (chopped): one cup
Sweet corn: one cup
Onion (finely chopped): half a cup
Garlic (crushed): four pearls
Celery (finely chopped): for garnish
Butter: for cooking
Pepper and salt: to taste
Dried herbs (basil, thyme, oregano and rosemary): to taste
Method
Heat butter in a kadai and add the herbs, salt and pepper and sauté.
Add garlic and onion and cook.
Add the vegetables and stir fry on high flame.
Check seasoning, add the rice and stir again.
Garnish with chopped celery and serve.
Note : Boiling the vegetables in a microwave for five minutes reduces cooking time by half.
Go Traditional
Leftover rice can be converted into tangy lemon rice or coconut rice with a nice seasoning and crunchy peanut for added taste.
You can recook the rice with some water and milk, mash it up and add curd and seasoning for extra-creamy curd rice.
