Vegan Mofo Day 29: Vegetable Bhath

My mom usually made this rice dish when we went to a First Show movie (that’s the movie showing @ 6:00PM) , not sure if they still use the same terminology in India. It was fun watching those looooong movies (do you remember Hum Aapke Hain Kaun-4 long hours with a 15 minute intermission.. wow) passing popcorn. My parents were not too big on eating outside food, so we would always take something from home, but they didn’t say no to popcorn. Well anyway since it used to get late by the time we came home (for the record, I watched more movies with my mom and sister than with my friends) and we used to gobble up late into the night talking (arguing with each other) about the movie, costumes, songs, fights…

The masala used is the same as the one used for bisibeli bath or vangi bath.

Ingredients:

Rice – 3 cups, cooked

Mixed vegetables – 2 cups (Potato, carrots, green beans, peas are normally used, but any other veggie can also be added. I used a 16 oz. bag of frozen mixed vegetables along with 3 potatoes and 2 carrots)

Green chili – 2, sliced

Mustard Seeds – 1 tsp

Ground Masala powder – 3 tbsp

Peanuts – 3 tbsp

Cashews – 2 tbsp

Turmeric – ¼ tsp

Lemon juice – as per taste

Salt – as per taste

Method:

• Cook rice; grains should be separate, not mushy. Add 1 tsp oil and 1/8 tsp turmeric to the rice; mix well and set aside to cool.
• Take all the chopped veggies in a microwave safe bowl and cook them for 4-5 minutes until they are fork tender. This can also be done in the pressure cooker, cook for 2 whistles with little or no water.
• In a large pan, heat 2tbsp oil; add mustard seeds and after they start spluttering, add the veggies and sauté until the edges start to crisp/brown about 10-12 minutes.
• Add turmeric, masala powder, salt; mix well and remove from heat.
• Mix the veggies along with lemon juice into the rice; mix with a light hand making sure that the rice does not get mushy.
• Taste and season accordingly. Garnish with fried peanuts and cashews. Serve with onion raita (or not if you are a vegan) or papad. Tastes great the next day for lunch.