Spicy left over rice (Vagherla Bhat)

Growing up there was always left over rice in the kitchen, and this recipe is a great way to make plain boiled rice into an exciting dish with attitude (as Jaime would say).

Ingredients

1 cup of left over cooked rice.
1/2 tsp of chilli powder
1/2 tsp of turmeric
3/4 tsp of salt
3/4 tsp of mustard seeds
3/4 tsp of cumin seeds
Some vegetable oil.

Method

Put the rice on a plate and add the chilli powder, turmeric and salt. Heat some oil in a frying pan, add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Once they start to pop and smell aromatic add the rice and mix well. Keep mixing until all the rice is covered with the spices and everything is cooked through.

I love this dish, and I don't know anyone who doesn't. Its great with some yoghurt or just as is.

Coriander Mashed Potato

So I thought tonight's dinner was going to be a simple case of classic corn on the cob with mashed potato and a salad. Classic American food. Even though both the American Vegetarian and I both adore Indian food the American Vegetarian sometimes just says "can't we have something plain". So tonight was going to be the 'can't we have something plain' night, with mashed potato.

On an evening when I know I'm making dinner, I really enjoy stepping into my kitchen, turning on the radio, and having a bit of 'me' time. I find it therapeutic and quite meditative. Its just me in my kitchen and I really enjoy my space. So tonight, as I was listening to Eddie Nester on BBC London I began prepping our dinner, and then the American Vegetarian comes in, starts washing and peeling the potatoes. 


"Mmm, so you're helping me make dinner then?". I thought.

We learnt early on that cooking together didn't really work out, I ended up going in to 'control freak' mode and well...you can imagine the rest, it wasn't great. So I was a bit surprised that she wanted to help. (I also just wanted the kitchen to myself). Anyway after she put the potatoes onto boil, she added 1 teaspoon of turmeric. 


"Er what you doing?" I asked,

 She said that she found a recipe that she wanted to try. So I looked at it and it was full of Indian delights, coriander seeds, cumin, green chilli, even the 'only ever used on extremely special occasaions' GHEE was there. Wow, this is the polar opposite of  'something plain', but who am I to argue.

So I make the recipe and find to my amazement that its a Vivek Singh recipe for Coriander Mash. I love Vivek Singh's food. We went to The Cinnamon Kitchen once, and what he does with Indian flavours blew my palate. So I was pleasantly surprised that not only did the American Vegetarian wanted to have this for dinner but that it was actually very simple to make. So here is my version of Vivek Singh's recipe for Coriander Mash. I've adapted a bit to show you what I did. It's simple, uncomplicated and very very tasty.


Ingredients


4 or 5 medium to large floury potatoes, peeled and cut into halves
1tsp ground turmeric
1tsp salt
25g butter
1tbsp ghee or clarified butter
1½ tsp coriander seeds, roasted in a dry frying pan and then crushed
½tsp cumin seeds, roasted in a dry frying pan and then crushed
½tsp red chilli flakes
2.5cm piece of fresh ginger, finely chopped or grated
half a red chilli, chopped
Big handful fresh coriander, chopped
Juice of ½ lemon

Method

Cook the potatoes in boiling water with the turmeric and salt until tender. Drain and mash the potato with the butter until smooth. Heat the ghee or clarified butter in a frying pan and add the crushed coriander seeds, cumin seeds and red chilli flakes. When they release their aroma, add the ginger and red chilli. 

Add the mashed potatoes and stir to mix well. Sprinkle in the coriander and lemon juice, mix well and serve.