Spinach Rice Recipe

Tuesday, July 17, 2018

Spinach Rice Recipe

When it comes to packed lunch, I always prefer to pack variety rice/one pot rice instead of rice with kuzhambu. Today I am sharing the recipe of simple & nutritious spinach rice or pulao. I made it using amaranth leaves and you can use any available spinach. I have posted Amarnath leaves stir fry and Amarnath leaves Cutlet earlier. Also, if you are interested in variety rice recipes for lunch box then check the recipe index under the category 'Rice Bowl'. Let's move to the recipe:

Ingredients:

Rice - 1 Cup(uncooked)

Spinach - 1 bunch

Onion - 1

Garlic cloves - 2

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Ghee - as required

Salt - as required

To Temper:

Oil - 1.5 tsp

Cumin seeds - /2 tsp

Dry Red Chilli - 4

Urad dal - 1 tsp

Peanuts - 1 tblsp

Method:

1. Cook the rice and spread it in a plate for cooling. Remove the spinach from the hard steam and wash it completely. Chop the washed spinach, onion and garlic.

2. In a wide pan, add the oil and temper it with the items under 'To Temper'. Make sure the peanuts and urad dal are roasted until golden brown. Now add the chopped garlic and onion. Saute it until the onions turn transparent. Add the turmeric powder and the chopped spinach. Add the required slat and mix it all together.

3. Cover and cook for 5 to 7 minutes until the spinach is wilted completely. Open the pan and stir it well. When the spinach becomes dry and the water is absorbed completely, add the cooked rice. Add the required ghee and mix it evenly without breaking the rice grains. Adjust the salt at this stage.

Serve the yummy and healthy bowl of rice with curd raita or any sides of your choice. I served it with the chicken cutlet.

Points to remember:

Instead of adding peanuts while tempering, you can add the roasted peanuts at the end while mixing the rice to retain the crunchiness. It can also be replaced with ghee roasted cashew nuts.
The ghee gives a nice flavour to the rice and hence don't skip it.
The mild red colour is because of the variety of the spinach and I have used Amarnath leaves.
I used basmathi rice and cooked it with a 1:2 rice-water ratio.