A combination of rice and yellow lentils blended with spinach and aromatic flavours.
Serves 5-6 people
Ingredients
500g chicken (on the bone, cut into medium size pieces) OR mixed vegetables
150g yellow lentil (yellow moong beans)
250g basmati rice
400g spinach (chopped and washed)
325g onion sliced
325g tomato (diced)
3 tbsp cooking oil (or butter ghee)
2 tsp cumin seeds (zeera)
1 tsp crushed garlic
1 tsp crushed ginger
2 ¼ tsp salt (adjust to taste)
1 ½ tsp red chilli powder
½ tsp turmeric powder (haldi)
For Garnishing (optional but recommended)
Butter ghee
Green chilli (finely chopped for extra spice)
Crispy Fried onions
Mango pickle or any pickle of your choicem
Method
Combine rice and lentil together. Wash and soak for about 15-20 minutes in luke warm water.
Meanwhile, in a pot/pressure cooker heat oil or ghee (whichever you are using).
Fry sliced onions until light brown.
Add chicken followed by crushed garlic and ginger. Fry for 3-4 minutes on high flame drying out the water released from the chicken and when you can see a crispy look on the outer side of the chicken move onto the next step.
Add tomatoes, salt, chilli powder and turmeric powder. Mix in and fry for literally 2 mins.
Add chopped spinach and fry for 6-8 mins until the water released from the spinach is almost dried.
Add 500ml water and let it boil. The idea is to cook until the chicken is absolutely tender and falls of the bones easily. I am using a pressure cooker. After adding water, close the lid and let it cook on high flame. When it starts to whistle, turn the flame to low-medium and leave it for at least 15 minutes. Switch off the flame and let it settle naturally.
If you are using a pot, after adding water let it boil on high flame. Then cover with a lid and let it simmer cook on low-medium flame for at least 25-30 minutes to make the chicken absolutely tender.
NOTE: if using mixed vegetables it will take less time to cook.
Take the chicken pieces out in a plate. Use a fork to separate the meat from the bones. At this stage its like shredded chicken. Get rid of the bones and add the meat back to the pot. It doesn’t need to be completely mushy.
Add the soaked rice and lentils and 650ml water. Check the seasoning at this point and adjust if needed.
Close the lid again. If using pressure cooker, keep the flame high. when it starts to whistle turn it to low medium and switch off after 8 minutes. Let the steam settle before you open the lid.
If using a pot start by cooking on high flame. When it starts boiling, cover with the lid and turn it to low-medium for first 5 minutes and then let it cook on low flame for about 20-25 mins . Make sure the lid is tight and the steam does not escape. Switch off the flame. Check the rice and lentils are completely cooked.
Stir gently to give it a mix. It doesn’t need to be completely mushy.
Serving Suggestion
Serve hot with the garnishing of your choice.
Story
This is an all time favourite dish of my family. It’s a one pot delicious treat on a lazy weekend afternoon or if you want to treat your friends with something delicious with the least effort.
Going back down the memory lane, my mother- in- law used to make this dish when she needed to clear the fridge and use all the leftovers. It would taste delicious each time, but different, depending upon the left overs added in it. Hence, I came up with a set recipe to get an amazing taste each time.
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