Monday, September 20, 2010

Mexican rice

So I made Mexican rice for dinner today and that's when I remembered that the bar hasn't seen a recipe in quite some time. It's a quite a healthy dish (till you reach the part with the cheese, heh heh!) and you can make in 45 minutes (less if you're using leftover rice).

Ingredients
Green pepper, 1 medium
Red pepper, 1 medium
Babycorn, 1 can
Rice, 1 cup
Olive oil, 2 tablespoons
Garlic, 2 fat cloves, grated
Salsa habanera, 2 tablespoons
Any seasoning salt that looks like it will go with Mexican food
Mexican oregano
Mozzarella cheese, 4 tablespoons, grated
Salt to taste



















These are the salsa habanera and seasoning salt I used. I bought these in the US, but I'm pretty sure you'll find alternatives in every country. Tension nahin lene ka -- just look for a Mexican-looking/sounding sauce. This particular brand is the killer kind. If you shrugged your shoulders and said, "Two tablespoons se mera kya hoga?", trust me -- bahut kuchh hoga.

Method
1. Wash and soak the rice in water.

2. Cut the peppers into thin strips.

3. Wash the canned babycorn and cut into halves.

4. Mix the pepper and babycorn pieces in a glass bowl. Add 5 tablespoons of water and microwave on high for 10 minutes.














5. Meanwhile, put the rice to boil. I usually make it by boiling it in water and draining the excess starch, as I like the grains to stay separate. I don't think this will work very well with rice cooked in a rice cooker or pressure cooker.

6. Heat the olive oil and add the grated garlic.

7. Add the microwaved vegetables.

8. Add salt, 2 tablespoons of the salsa habanera and a dash of the seasoning salt and oregano. Mix well.

9. Add the cooked rice. Mix well.

10. Turn off the heat and put the rice and vegetables in a glass bowl (I just reuse the first one).

11. Cover the top with grated cheese.














12. Microwave on medium for about 5 minutes (or till the cheese melts).














13. Dig in!














Serves 3 (or 2, if a very hungry Viv is involved)


Note:
1. You can skip the cheese if you want, but beware, by skipping the cheese, you're messing with the sanctity of the dish.
2. If you really really REALLY want to skip the cheese, I have a great alternative. Don't skip the cheese. Hit the gym.



29 comments:

Nandini said...

GOLD!

mythalez said...

Silver!!
cheese looks yummy :D

nits said...

yummy bronze...

Anonymous said...

Haha great ending. That’s what I used to do after gorging on baked-rice in the food courts in Singapore.

Arun said...

For grains to remain separate a little ghee or lemon juice helps - or drain the water and risk some nutrients. Rice cooker mein bhi chalta hai.

nidhi said...

am so gonna try it this weekend. rocking bhai

Sowmya said...

OMG! What are you so distracted about? This is the 3rd typo I've spotted in the last few posts and being the virgo that I am, I have to point it out :P

"you're find alternatives" ??? Please!

Ok, I feel better now.. back to reading the rest of it :D

Sayesha said...

#Nandini,
:)

#mythalez,
It is! :P

#nits,
You ate your bronze? :D

#gargimehra,
Good strategy! :D

#Arun,
I thought what goes out with the drained water is mostly excess starch? Anyway, I hate pressure-cooked or rice-cooker-cooked rice. :P

#nidhi,
Thanks. :D

#Sowmya,
Thank you very much.

Anonymous said...

I feel fat looking at the cheese in the last picture. :(

Arun said...

Sayesha, even if rice is cooked in a pot, I think good results are possible without draining the cooking water. It is a matter of starting with the right proportions plus the ghee or lemon juice.

Sowmya said...

Hey, I didn't mean to be rude.. if you thought I was being a jerk, it was totally unintentional! :)

Am sorry :)

Obscure Optimist said...

Slurrrp Slurrrp... :) :) :)

Looks Great...Am gonna try it to find out whether it tastes great too...sans the cheese ofcourse.. :| (Finally I've DECIDED.. (yeah?? Yeah!!) to start dieting!!)

ദിയ കണ്ണന്‍ said...

yummy.. :)

Pujya said...

i love your dishes and i always try them.
last i tried was baby corn ka dish with as many chillies as u had suggested... and it was awesome. Would let you know how this works out :)

Pepper said...

You seem to be some major culinary expert. All I do is feel sorry for myself for not being able to cook (all that I'd like to atleast)

This however, seems a little doable. Thanks for putting up the pics - They're my source of motivation.

R said...

looks yummmmyyyy

Porkodi (பொற்கொடி) said...

so how do you cook the rice?! picture is drool worthy yumminess!

Arun said...

Tried it with some Salsa Chipotle - couldn't find Habanera. Think I needed more than two tablespoons. Will try again.

Sudeep said...

I have to give you the credit that the recipe (pehle wale bhi) looks very simple.
And thanks for the pic of salsa habanera warna cooking aur dancing kaise mix karna sochte baith-ta tha.

Sudeep said...

Not sure if this is for my explorer only lekin woh blog ka header image ekdum chotta ho gaya hai.

Arun said...

Aha, your Tony Chachere's More Spice Seasoning is Cajun, not Mexican!

Cajun are Louisiana descendants of French-speaking settlers from Acadia (the New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Islands of Canada).

I think it will make a discernable difference in the taste :)

Arun said...

Thought you might like the Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva of world cuisines. (Or Father, Son, and Holy Ghost if you are Christian.)



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_trinity_%28cuisine%29

Arun said...

I hit the gym. It hit back. Owww!

Arun said...

Dishoom-dishoom is not a good weight control strategy.

Sayesha said...

#dilontherocks,
Hahaha! Use low-fat cheese, it may make you feel a leeeetle better. :)

#Arun,
Ghee?? Thou asketh me to put ghee?? Already people are complaining about the cheese! Hahahaha! :D

#Sowmya,
I'm going to be a total chick and say, "It's not what you said but how you said it." :)

#Yamini,
Wow!! Tell me how it goes! :D

#Diya,
:)

#Pujya,
Yeayyyy thanks! :)

#Pepper,
Yeah my dishes are all very simple and fast, so you can definitely try them! :)

#Raam Pyari,
Thanks! :)

#Porkodi,
I boil the rice in a lot of water, and once it's cooked, I just cover the pot and tilt it over the sink to get rid of the excess starch and water. Works like magic, I get awesomely fluffy rice, with the grains nicely separated out. :)

#Arun,
I think any spicy sauce will work. You can just give the dish a fancy name. :)

#Sudeep,
Hahaha! Ab jaakar banao bhabhiji ke liye! :)

//Not sure if this is for my explorer only lekin woh blog ka header image ekdum chotta ho gaya hai.

Yeah I noticed it too. Not sure how that happened. Maybe blogger starts reducing your photo size if you don't post regularly? :P Will fix it sometime.

#Arun,
//Aha, your Tony Chachere's More Spice Seasoning is Cajun, not Mexican!

When did I say my seasoning salt is Mexican? :)

Thanks for the holy trinity link, awesome stuff! :D

//I hit the gym. It hit back. Owww!

LOL!!! :D

Arun said...

Hi Sayesha,

This dish, by itself, is insufficient (from my POV) for a meal. I need beans/daal/tofu or such source of protein as well; the cheese in this recipe is not sufficient.

So the question is - do you have some equally neat recipe for an accompaniment?

Sayesha said...

#Arun,
You can make a nice salad to go with this. Chickpeas, lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes, and a nice healthy dressing like vinegar+salt+sugar+pepper. :)

Arun said...

Yummy :)

Neha said...

This looks so amazing. And am sure the cheese only adds to the taste, tou theek hai na! 1 hour ki jaga 2 hours ka yoga kar lungi :D