Sunday, August 16, 2009

Cabbage Brown Rice

My father who is something of a mathematics whiz and the "go to person" for all of us when we have any questions on anything related to maths, first introduced me to Sudoku. For those of you unfamiliar with sudoku, it is a logic based number placement puzzle. The objective is to fill a 9x9 grid with the numbers 1 to 9 such that each column, each row and each of the nine 3x3 boxes contain the numbers 1 to 9 only one time each.

This incredibly simple sounding puzzle can be highly addictive and can be quite difficult to abandon when you are in the middle of one. It is also quite a lot of fun to do and a great way to pass time on long flights. When I start one of these puzzles, I find myself keeping that page open and keep coming back to it and inserting a couple of numbers in the right slots before going on to do the next thing on my "to do " list. A lot of you may already be "into" sudoku puzzles but if you have never tried them and love to exercise your brain,you should try these out....In either case you can check out my links page here , I have added these puzzles to that page so you can try your hand at these puzzles if you feel like it :-)

Coming back to this cabbage rice that I made using brown rice, I got the idea for this in a Tarla Dalal vegetarian cookbook. It was described as a Maharashtrian style rice and seemed like something we would like. So I adapted that recipe and made some changes to make it healthier, increased the quantity of vegetables to make it hearty enough to serve as a one pot meal and loved the end result.

Cabbage Brown Rice 2


Ingredients and Method to make Cabbage Brown Rice

2 cups shredded cabbage
1 cup frozen or fresh green peas
1 small to medium onion cut fine
1 1/4 cup brown basmati rice

4 tsp coconut oil (or any other oil)
1 clove
2 whole cardamoms
1/2 stick cinnamon
4 small bay leaves

1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp garam masala (or according to taste)
2 1/2 cups hot water + 1 cup hot water (additional 1 cup only if required )

salt to taste
1/4 cup grated fresh or frozen coconut

Place basmati rice in a large bowl, fill with fresh water until the rice is covered, swirl the rice once or twice and drain water and keep rice aside.

In a large heavy bottomed pan heat oil, add onions and saute until the onions are transparent, then add clove, cardamoms, cinnamon and bay leaves. Stir these spices a few times.

Add shredded cabbage, green peas, turmeric powder, garam masala, brown rice and 2 1/2 cups hot water and bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat, cover and cook.

Stir this occasionally and check to see if more water is required, add balance of water (about 1 cup) only as required until the rice gets cooked but is not mushy.

Add salt to taste, mix well.

Lastly add grated coconut, mix well and serve hot with curry or raita or chips as preferred.

Serves approximately 2 to 3

Notes

You can make this with white basmati as well, just proceed as with brown basmati, only reduce the bay leaves to 2 and also adjust garam masala as per taste.

With this level of spices this rice was very mild and not too spicy, if you like spicier rice, you could add red chilli powder according to taste to spice it up a bit.

Suggested variation

Sprinkle juice of half a lemon on this quantity of rice just before serving for a slight tartness.

31 comments :

LifenSpice said...

Usha, cabbafge rice looks good!

You are right, sudoku is highly addictive. I get hooked up to it and forget everything at times:) very useful while travelling. i checked that widget you added. its cool. came back here, before i get hooked up there:)

Unknown said...

Nice recipe.. looks really yummy & brown rice is good for health.

Subhie Arun said...

nice recipe yar..looks grt n tempting...perfect meal!

Unknown said...

Delicious & healthy rice. You are absolutely right about getting hooked on to Sudoku.

Vani said...

Sudoku is definitely addictive! Perfect for long flights :) Cabbage rice looks yum!

Nandinis food said...

Awesome! Cabbage rice looks delicious and nutritious!

Vidhya said...

Cabbage rice looks neat Usha. As you said Sudoku is addictive but its perfect for India Travel :)

Shama Nagarajan said...

lovely delicious rice dear..yummy

Priya Suresh said...

Quite an interesting dish!!rice looks fabulous!!

Chitra said...

Cabbage rice really looks nice..Never thought of making this.will try once :)

lata raja said...

Oh yes, Sudoku is the biggest of addictions! Grand healthy twist to TD recipe here.

Mahimaa's kitchen said...

that's a healthy alternative to the usual white rice. looks yummy.

miss v said...

that sounds great! i love anything with cabbage - yummers!

Mythreyi Dilip said...

Healthy as well as delicious recipe!

SnacksGiving said...

Thanks for visiting my blog and for your wonderful comments! You too have a wonderful blog, and I share your view about healthy cooking. Hope to see you on the blog more often!

ST said...

Cabbage rice sounds delectable...

Varsha Vipins said...

Thats a delectable rice dish Usha..I loved the color n look of it..n yea I was totally into Sudoku during my working days in Pune..highly addictive..:)

Red Chillies said...

Ah, what can I say about Sudoku, it is indeed addictive. Like this cabbage brown rice recipe.

Anonymous said...

Ho,what a rice delicacy with cabbage...you rocks Usha..ha,even am into sudoku.lol

Unknown said...

nice recipe ohh coconut oil gives a delicious flavor to the rice and brown rice is a health option, very intresting .......

Mansi said...

Looks lovely...I like the way u have used healthy ingredients in all recipes..thanks for visiting my blog.

Anushruti said...

The rice looks delicious!

Shri said...

The rice looks real delicious!I have to agree with you that once you start the Sudoku it gets addictive and difficult to keep it aside.The sudoku on your links page is neat.I do the puzzles in the book by Will shortz.

Valarmathi Sanjeev said...

Nice recipe. Must try it.

PriyaRaj said...

Healthy & different recipe Usha......Thanx for visiting & leaving ur nice comment in my blog ......All ur recipes looks very colourful & yummy yaar .....

PriyaRaj said...

Thank u Usha ......will be following u daily ......

A_and_N said...

I've been thinking of cabbage rice for sometime now! Yours looks great.

Linda said...

Cabbage and brown rice looks delicious Usha. It's been awhile since I tried sudoku *or* brown rice -- thanks for the inspiration :)

Saraswathy Balakrishnan said...

A very healthy dish..u got a very good collection of veg recipe my dear..will try them..thanks for visiting my blog..do sign in as a follower and share ur suggestions in improving my veg cooking skills..

Sukanya Yogesh said...

Healthy and tasty and a variety from the usual rice recipes cooked at home.

Parita said...

Healthy and unique recipe dear :)

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