Rice and Lentils

There are many variations on rice and lentils from India through the Middle East. Onions and carrots make the base, and are both native to the region. The spices here are simple, just cumin and coriander, bay leaf, and a pinch of turmeric and salt.

Ingredients
BASE
1/2 onion, sliced thin
1 carrot, chopped small
SPICE
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp cumin, ground
1/2 tsp coriander, ground
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp turmeric
MAIN
3/4 cup brown rice, soaked
1/4 cup lentils, soaked (whole brown or red lentils)
FINISH
1/2 lemon juice

Preparation
Prep: Soak lentils & rice.
Base: Brown and saute the onion & carrot. Result should be moist, not wet. This base gets added to the rice and lentils, along with spices, and it's flavor gets absorbed.
Main: Mix veggie base, ground spices, rice & lentils in pot or rice cooker, with water. Bring to boil, then simmer covered, 20-30 min, then remove heat, and continue steam covered, 10-15 min.
Finish: Adjust taste with lemon juice and garnish with fresh coriander leaves.

Rice Lentil Soup

Rice lentil soup is traditional breakfast (kitchari).

Ingredients
MAIN
1 cup brown rice, soaked
1/2 cup green dal, soaked
2 cups water (or more)
SPICE
1/8 tsp turmeric
1/8 tsp salt

Preparation
Simmer until rice and lentils soft and mushy. May require extra water.

Coconut Rice Soup

This is a simple soup, lightly flavored. Leftover cooked rice is broken up and cooked as soup. The base is shallot-garlic-ginger which makes a light broth if water and no extra broth is added. Medium grain rice is slightly sweeter than long grain. Coconut is added for slightly richer flavor.

Ingredients
BASE
2 shallots, sliced thin
1 tsp garlic, sliced thin
1 tsp ginger, sliced thin
1 cup water or light broth
SPICE
1/8 tsp salt
MAIN
1 cup medium grain brown rice, cooked

2/3 cups water

FINISH

1/8 cup shredded coconut, soaked (optional)

1 tbsp lemon juice

Preparation

In saucepan at medium heat, covered, sweat shallots, ginger and garlic, 5-10 min.

In food processor or blender, mix cooked rice and enough water to mix. Use a few short bursts to break rice, but don't puree.
Add rice mixture to saucepan, add enough water or light broth to make soup, and salt, and bring just to boil.
Add coconut and lemon juice to taste.

Rice Pancakes

Pancake batter require a full day and night preparation. But once the batter is prepared, pancakes cook quickly. Traditional pancakes soak and grind rice and lentils, then ferment the batter. Spices are mixed into the batter. The ratio varies for rice to lentils between 2:1 (brown rice) to 5:1 (white rice.) Ingredients vary, with different variety of rice and lentils, and different spices. Size and thickness vary, from pancake thickness to paper thin crepes.

Preparation: 24 hours
Cooking: 6-8 minutes

Ingredients
MAIN (BATTER)
1 cup medium grain brown rice, soaked
1/4 cup whole black lentils, soaked (urad dal)
1 cup water, soaking
1 cup water, grinding (as needed)
SPICE
1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds (option)
2 tbsp chickpeas (option)
1/8 tsp salt
FINISH
1 banana or other fresh fruit

Preparation
Soak: Soak rice and lentils separately, 4-6 hours (morning.)
Grind Batter: Drain and reserve excess soaking water. Grind lentils separately to very fine paste, soft and foamy. Grinding lentils separately fine makes fluffy pancakes. Grind rice and fenugreek seeds to fine grain, smooth. Add reserved soaking water as necessary to thin batter. Batter should be thick, but pour easily from ladle, or through fingers. Batter thickens with ferment.
Ferment: Set room temperature or warmer, loosely covered, 6-8 hours (overnight.)
Grind Spices: Grind fenugreek seeds and mix spices, fenugreek and salt, into batter. (May also wet grind whole spices with lentils or rice.)
Cook: Blend fermented batter and spices. Add water to adjust thickness. Preheat non-stick pan to medium heat. (I prefer light non-stick omelet pan.) Water drops added spatter. Batter should be room temperature. Pour or ladle batter into flat rounds of desired size. 1 ladle makes 5 inch pancake, light brown (not golden brown.) Bubbles appear, then pop or subside, and change color. Turn with spatula. Cook to golden brown. Remove to plate and serve hot. (Between pancake batches, wipe clean hot pan with damp towel or sponge.)

Spanish Rice

This rice has flavor enough to serve alone. Has a slightly red color with a mild tomato taste. Made from base vegetables called Sofrito, which are onion, garlic and tomato. Add spices, and stew together with rice as pilaf.

Ingredients

BASE

1/2 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic

2 plum tomatoes, chopped

1 red sweet pepper, chopped

SPICE

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp cilantro

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 bay leaf

1/2 tsp oregano

1/8 tsp sea salt

1 tbsp tomato paste

MAIN

1 cup brown rice

1 cup water

FINISH

1 tsp lemon juice, to taste

handful fresh cilantro

Preparation

Prepare by soaking brown rice at least 2 hrs. Wash and drain.

To grind whole spices: Grind cumin seed, corriander seeds, black peppercorns, bay leaf and oregano into coarse powder in spice grinder. Set aside. This step can be done while browning onions, along with prepping the main ingredients.

To start base: Brown onion, lowering heat once it colors, 10-12 min. Add splash of water, garlic, tomato, sweet pepper and ground spices, and simmer 2-3 min. Add tomato paste to color and taste. Result should be paste, without excess water, so it does not change the ratio of rice to water.

Main: In rice cooker, combine rice and water. Ratio of rice to water is important. Add vegetable base paste. Turn on rice cooker. Rice cooker automatically boils and cooks until water is gone, 30 min, then steams warm, 15 min. After steaming 15 min, open lid and stir lightly to separate grains.

Finish: Add fresh coriander, and sprinkle and mix lemon juice, to taste, adding only 1/2 tsp at a time. 

Tips

I would happily add whole olives for special occasions.

Compare with Indian Tomato Rice, which is very similar, and we see different spices: Spanish may spice with oregano, and add olives or olive oil; Indian may spice with ginger and turmeric. Both likely spice with bay, cumin, coriander, salt and pepper.

Green Pea Rice Pilaf

Rice dish that gets flavor from brown onions and spices. Especially easy if you make brown onions in batches. Just add some fresh or frozen peas.

Ingredients
1 cup brown rice soaked
1/2 onion chopped
1 cup water
1/4 cup peas
1 tsp garam masala
1/8 tsp salt
1 tbsp lemon juice

Preparation
Prepare by soaking brown rice, 2 hrs. Wash and drain.
In saucepan, brown onion, 10-20 min. Brown onions should be moist with most of moisture removed, so they neither add nor subtract water to the rice. (Cumin seed is a simple substitution for garam masala.)
To rice cooker, add rice, onion, peas, spices and water. Start cooking, 35-45 min. Salt to taste.
Drizzle lemon juice to taste and fluff with fork.

Steamed Brown Rice

Plain steamed brown rice is usually prepared as an ingredient for other dishes like lemon rice (great use of leftover rice), or as a side dish for sauces like curries. Steamed rice can be dressed up a bit adding a few small vegetables like peas, and common seasoning like cumin and salt.

Ingredients
1 cup brown rice soaked
1 cup water
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cumin seed ground
1/4 cup green peas

Preparation
Soak: plan ahead and at morning or noon, measure dry rice and soak, 2 hr. Test by biting a single kernel of wet rice. Wet rice will not crunch like dry rice. Rinse and drain.

Cook: Add rice and water to rice cooker. Add any optional spices and vegetable. Close lid and start cooking and steaming, 35-45 min. When finished, fluff lightly with wooden spoon and serve.

Rice Cooker
- Not enough water, boils out too soon, and undercooks the rice. Rice kernel is hard.
- Too much water, takes forever to boil out, and overcooks the rice. Rice is mushy and sticky.
- Soaked rice both absorbs less water (add less water), and cooks faster (add less water), than dry rice. Start with 1:1 ratio of soaked brown rice to water. (Directions that call for more water probably don't soak the rice.)
- Set a timer to 45 min for the rice cooker. This will guarantee you don't forget the rice. A timer also make you aware of how long the rice boils and steams. When rice cooker switches from boil to steam, note how much time the brown rice boiled (probably 20-30 min), and reduce the timer to 15 min.
- Best use your own measures and ignore the measure and marks provided by the rice cooker. The rice cooker provided measure cup is only 3/4 cup (180 ml), while pan side marks are 2x that, or 1-1/2 cup (360 ml).

Carrot Rice

Very fragrant and tasty, dressed up with almonds and golden raisins.

Ingredients

1 cup brown rice soaked

1/4 cup slivered almonds

1 onion chopped

2 carrots grated

2 inch cinnamon ground

2 pods green cardamoms ground

1 pod black cardamom ground

2-3 bay leaves ground

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup water

1/4 cup golden raisins

handful cilantro

Preparation

Prepare by soaking brown rice at least 2 hours. Wash and drain.

In saucepan, brown onions, 5 min. Add carrots and saute, 5 min. Meanwhile, use spice grinder to grind cinnamon, cardamoms and bay leaves. In another saucepan, lightly toast almonds, until golden brown. Set aside.

In rice cooker, combine rice, carrot base, spices, raisins, almonds and water. Ratio of rice to water is important. Turn on rice cooker. Rice cooker automatically boils and cooks until water is gone, 30 min, then steams warm, 15 min. After steaming 15 min, open lid and stir.

Garnish with cilantro leaves and serve.

Tomato Rice

This is a pilaf (pullao), where the rice soaks and cooks in broth, infusing the broth flavors into the rice.

Ingredients

1 medium onion

2 medium tomatoes

1 tbsp tomato puree

1 cup brown rice soaked 2 hr

1 tsp cumin seed ground

1 tsp fennel seed ground

1/4 tsp chili pepper ground

1/2 tsp black pepper ground

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup water

1 tsp lemon juice

handful fresh coriander

Preparation

Plan ahead and soak brown rice 2 hrs. Wash and drain.

Brown onion, 5 min. Meanwhile, in spice grinder, grind cumin seed, fennel seed, red chili pepper and black pepper. Add tomatoes, tomato puree, spices, salt and water, simmer 5 min. Remove from heat, and use stick blender to blend smooth.

In rice cooker, mix the brown rice and the blended base, and start rice cooker cooking. The water measured and added to the base needs to be just the correct ratio for the rice cooker. Typically, for soaked brown rice this will be 1 cup rice to 1 cup water. The rice cooker will automatically boil and simmer the rice 30 min, then switch to warm and steam the rice 15 min.

If using a pan, mix brown rice into blended base and bring to boil, then turn down heat to simmer and cover with lid, and cook 30 min. After 30 min, without removing lid, remove from heat and allow to steam 15 min.

Add touch of lemon juice to taste, garnish with fresh coriander and serve.

Lemon Rice

Good use of leftover brown rice.

Ingredients

1 cup brown rice soaked

1 cup water

1/4 cup peanuts raw

1 tbsp black lentils (urad dal) split

1/2 tsp mustard seed

1/2 onion

1/2 tsp turmeric

6 leaves curry leaves

2-3 tbsp lemon juice

Preparation

Prepare by soaking brown rice at least 2 hrs. Wash and drain.

In rice cooker, combine rice and water. Ratio of rice to water is important. Turn on rice cooker. Rice cooker automatically boils and cooks until water is gone, 30 min, then steams warm, 15 min. After steaming 15 min, open lid and stir lightly to separate grains. On baking sheet, spread rice to separate grains and cool.

Meanwhile, in pan with medium heat, lightly toast peanuts, 5 min. When peanuts just start to turn brown, add dal and mustard seed, until shake while dal toasts and mustard seed pops, 1 min. Remove from heat and save.

In sauce pan, brown onion, 5 min. Add turmeric and curry leaves, and a bit of water as necessary. Continue simmer, 5 min.

Mix cooked and cooled rice into onion base. Sprinkle and mix lemon juice, to taste, adding only 1 tbsp at a time. The tart lemon makes the dish, but too much sourness can also ruin the dish.

Finish with toasted nuts, lentil and mustard seeds, which should be added last to keep crunchy.