Healthy Brown Capsicum Rice

On hot summer days (which is infact everyday in Penang!) I normally prefer making one-pot lunches. Meals that are simple to make, wholesome in combining grains / lentils /veggies and involves just one pot to wash up. One such easy meal is the Simple Capsicum rice. You can make the spice powder in advance and store it (I normally make these spice powders in bulk and store them in my refrigerator) and voila - the entire meal would take just under 30 minutes to prepare.

This recipe is adapted from Sailus Food - a delectable blog with a variety of recipes.  I have made this with brown rice to give a nutritious twist. Brown Rice is one of my new finds and it took a while for me to get the grips on the water ratio and cooking times. It is a bit on the chewy side and I doubt if small kids would like the texture but it suits well for the Indian mixed rice dishes. If you are health conscious - then do give it a try. It is filling and is much more nutritious than polished rice as the outer husk is still on and therefore adds a lot of fibre to your meals. For more details on the nutrition value of brown rice check out these pages. If you do not have brown rice - simply substitute with regular white rice or basmati.

Capsicum Rice

Ingredients:

Brown Rice - 1 cup (washed and cooked with 3 cups of water on stove top / pressure cooked as per instructions on packet)

Capsicum - 1 - sliced or chopped

Onion - 1 sliced 

Roasted Peanuts - 1 T

Salt to taste

Spice Powder:

Red Chilly - 5-6

Dhania (Coriander seeds) - 1T

Cumin Seeds - 1t

Broken Urad dal - 1T

Cinnamon - 1 inch stick

Curry leaves - 1 handful

Roasted Peanuts - 2T

Ghee - 1/2t

To Season

Mustard Seeds - 1t

Curry Leaves - a handful

Ghee / Oil - 1 t

Method:

1. Spice Powder - Heat ghee in a pan and roast cumin seeds, urad dal, red chillies, dhania, cinnamon and curry leaves together. Once they turn golden, add the roasted peanuts and mix well. Grind to a coarse powder.

2. Heat ghee / oil in a big pan. Add mustard seeds and curry leaves.

3. Add the sliced onions and fry till they turn pink

4. Add the capsicum and fry until they are  cooked but are still crunchy. 

5. Add salt and mix well. If you taste it at this stage, the capsicum should be a bit salty.

6. Add the rice, spice powder and mix well. Taste and adjust salt. 

7. Garnish with roasted peanuts and serve with raitha.

Notes:

•  If you are not sure about the salt quantity, then add the salt while cooking the rice and omit while frying the vegetables.
• Store excess spice powder in a tightly lidded jar in the fridge. Use within a month.
• If you are making this for kids - then use basmati rice and increase the quantity of ghee for added flavor