Spiced Cauliflower Rice

How to make Spiced Cauliflower Rice

                While I was looking to make something, other than the usual Biryani & I stumbled into this recipe  in a collection of  variety rices book, that I had hardly peeked into.So, this is what I'm sending to the 2nd week of  CCChallenge. Although I wasn't sure how this would turn out; I took a guess based on the ingredients & decided to go ahead, putting the whole family's lunch at stake!

          I turned to check on my 2 year old, just to make sure he is not eating anything toxic, but there he was like a beautiful angel, reading a picture book. He was pointing to the pictures & saying the name of the object & what we do with it. He said Sofa - Sit, Cereal - Eat, Milk - Drink & Bed - Jump!! According to him, the bed is for jumping, but you could sleep on it as well, if you like; which reminded me of the song "5 little monkeys jumping on the bed" & i hope this mama does not need to call the doctor.

           My gamble with the lunch, paid off big time and the result was a mildly spiced, aromatic & flavorful rice with lots of veggies to nurture your family. You can serve it with a Raitha, if you like. I made Beetroot Raitha to go with it (will post that recipe shortly).

Ingredients:

Basmati Rice - 2 cups (soak in water for 20 minutes)

2 big Onions, sliced 

Medium Tomatoes - 5 (washed)

Fresh or frozen Cauliflower - 3 cups (washed & cut into large florets)

Frozen or fresh peas - 1 cup (washed & drained)

Chilli powder - 1/2 to 1 Tsp

Garam Masala Powder - 1 Tsp

Turmeric powder - a pinch

Salt - as needed

Oil - 4 Tbsp

Coriander leaves, chopped - 2 Tbsp

Lemon juice from 1 Lemon

Combine the dry ingredients below & set aside for coating the Cauliflower florets:

Corn Starch - 1 Tbsp

Pepper powder - 1 Tsp

Rice flour - 1 Tsp

A little Salt

Saute the below ingredients in a little oil & grind to a smooth paste:

Small Pearl Onions - 8 no:s (Peeled & washed)

Green Chillies - 4 no:s

1 to 2 inches long, Ginger chunks (Peeled, washed & sliced)

• Heat a large pan with water & add the whole tomatoes, cover & boil for 5 minutes.
• Turn off the heat, remove from water; discard any unwanted parts from the tomatoes & grind to a smooth puree & set aside.
• Cook the soaked rice with the required amount of water. (3 cups of water should suffice for 2 cups of Basmati). Once cooked, cool the rice.
• Cook the cauliflower in the microwave or on the stove top until it's thoroughly cooked & firm.
• Drain any excess water from the Cauliflower & sprinkle the Corn Starch mixture into it & toss to coat the wet Cauliflower florets.
• Heat oil in a non-stick Kadai, add the flour coated Cauliflower florets, roast until crispy & light brown in oil.
• Remove the Cauliflower from oil & drain on absorbent paper.
• In the same oil, add the sliced Onions & green peas; saute with a little salt. Once these are cooked, add the ground  masala, Tomato puree, Turmeric powder, Chilli powder, Salt, Garam masala powder & cook for a few minutes.
• Check seasoning & add the cooled rice, stir & cook on low heat for a few minutes, until the rice is fluffy & coated with the puree.
• Turn off the heat, add the Coriander leaves & the Lemon juice, stir & serve hot with a Raitha. Can be eaten by itself too.

Tips:  

You can save the drained water & use it in another dish or use it to cook rice, so you will not lose out on the nutrients from the Cauliflower & Tomatoes.

Srivalli's CCChallenge