Recipe: Comparatively Frugal Masala Rice

I enjoyed every bite of this. It’s an Indian recipe I adapted from here. One warning, it’s not frugal if you don’ t already have the spices. For me, it was extremely frugal because I own them all. We had to buy the rice, beans, cilantro, and onion.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups brown rice
• 2 15 oz. cans black beans
• 1 bag spinach
• 1 small clove garlic Garlic
• 2 Cardamom pods
• 1/2 tsp Turmeric
• 1/2 inch Cinnamon stick
• 2 Cloves
• 1 Bay Leaf
• 4 Peppercorns (or some ground pepper)
• 1 medium, finely sliced Onion
• 1/2 bunch Cilantro
• 6 cups Water
• 4 tbsp Cooking Oil

1. Cook the rice with the turmeric in about 3 cups of water for about 20 minutes (won’t be all the way done). Turmeric is for color, so you don’t have to use it.
2. While rice is cooking, finely chop cilantro and garlic. Place them aside and chop onion (put it in something else). Wash spinach and place in separate bowl.
3. Set aside partially cooked rice.
4. Heat oil in a big saucepan or rice cooker. Add cardamom pods, cinnamon, cloves, bay leaf, and peppercorns. Fry for about a minute.
5. Add the onion and continue frying until it turns brown.
6. Then add cilantro and garlic. Fry for another minute or two.
7. Mix in rice thoroughly. Fry for 5 minutes. Add remaining 3 cups of water, spinach, drained beans, and salt to taste.
8. Cook for about 20 minutes or until water is absorbed.

Enjoy thoroughly!

(Note: I added the spinach because we had extra and we needed a vegetable in it. It doesn’t taste like spinach because of all the spices.)

P.S. Remember…don’t let it burn. I did that tonight. 🙁 Most of it still tastes good, however, just the bottom part is bad. Fortunately, Mr. Micah will eat burnt food with BBQ sauce. He’s so handy.

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