Jeera Vegetable Fried Rice with Tomato Onion Raita

Ingredients

FOR THE JEERA/CUMIN RICE:
• 1 ½ cups Basmati rice
• 2 tsp jeera/cumin seeds
• 4 cloves
• 1-inch piece cinnamon
• 2 green cardamoms/hari elaichi
• 1 medium onion, sliced or finely chopped
• 1 tsp garlic, grated or finely chopped
• 3 green chillies/jalapenos, sliced round/ finely chopped/slit
• Salt to taste
• 1 ¾ to 2 cups of hot water (depending upon how soft or tender you want your rice)
FOR THE VEGETABLE STIR FRY:
• 1 large carrot, peeled and julienned
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• ½ cup sliced capsicum/bell pepper
• Pinch salt
• ¼ to ½ tsp black pepper powder
OTHER INGREDIENTS:
• 2 tbsp oil
• 2 tsp ghee/clarified butter
• Salt to taste
• Coriander leaves/cilantro for garnish
TO SERVE:
• Tomato-onion raita
Ingredients for tomato onion raita:
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups plain curd/yogurt
• 1 large tomato, finely chopped
• ¼ cup finely chopped/sliced red onions
• 1 small green chilli/jalapeno, finely chopped
• Salt to taste
To temper or season the raita:
• 1 to 2 tsp oil
• ½ tsp jeera/cumin seeds

Instructions

TO MAKE THE TOMATO ONION RAITA:
1. Beat the yogurt well until smooth and creamy.
2. Add finely chopped tomatoes, onions, green chillies and salt to taste and mix well.
3. To make the tempering; heat oil in a small saucepan and once hot, stir in the cumin seeds.
4. Add this to the raita and mix well.
5. If needed, you can garnish this with finely chopped coriander leaves.
FOR THE JEERA RICE:
6. Wash rice in plenty of water until the water runs clear. Drain in a colander and keep aside.
7. Heat a large pressure cooker pan and once hot, add the oil/ghee.
8. Stir in cumin seeds and once they start to sizzle, add the cloves, cinnamon, bay leaf and cardamom. Sauté for a few seconds to flavor the oil/ghee with all these spices!
9. Add chopped onions and green chilies; fry again on medium heat for a couple of minutes until lightly soft.
10. Mix in the garlic and saute again for a few seconds.
11. Tip in the drained Basmati rice; mix well.
12. Sauté this mixture on medium heat, stirring continuously until each grain of rice is glistening with oil/ghee and they start to dance around the pan.
13. At this stage, add the hot water and salt to taste; give it a good mix and close the pressure pan.
14. Cook on high for one whistle and reduce the flame. Cook for another 5 minutes after first whistle.
15. Remove from heat and let the pressure release naturally.
16. You can do this on a stove top or instant pot too.
17. Once the pressure has released naturally, open the pressure cooker.
TO MAKE THE VEGETABLE STIR FRY:
18. Heat oil on high heat in a saucepan or kadai; once hot, stir in onions and fry for a few seconds on high heat, stirring continuously.
19. Add the rest of the vegetables along with salt and pepper to taste and fry on high heat just until the mixture heats through.
20. Tip the stir fried vegetable mixture onto the warm jeera rice and mix gently with a fork or light spatula (to avoid the rice grains from breaking) until all the vegetables have been well distributed.
TO SERVE:
21. Serve hot, delicious and fresh Jeera Vegetable Fried Rice with Tomato Onion Raita! You can enjoy this with crisp potato chips, applams, poppadums or just some spicy Indian pickle on the side!
22. Enjoy and Happy Cooking!!

Notes