The Indian Food Court

Mint in English is pudina in Kannada and konkani. We use it in a few wet masalas and in preparing Pudina Chutney . It is also an important ingredient in green chutney for Pani Puri water. Pudina enhances the taste of the dish if added in the right amounts but its good to remember that some people have an allergy for the strong aroma of Pudina.

The recipe I am putting up today is a very popular one, something I have seen on several blogs. With this post I am adding one more to the already vast pool of Mint Rice.

What you need to have:

1. Basumathi rice – 1 cup

2. Chopped Carrots – 1/4 cup

3. Green Peas – 3/4 cup

Basumathi Rice

Chopped Carrots and Green Peas

Ingredients of Seasoning:

1. Onions chopped – 1/3 cup

2. Cardamom – 3

3. Cinnamon – 2 pieces

4. Cloves – 2

5. Cashews – A few

6. Kishmish – A handful

7. Almonds -A few

8. Fennel seeds – 1 Teaspoon

Ingredients of Seasoning

Ingredients of Wet masala:

1. Fresh Mint leaves – 1/2 cup

2. Coriander leaves – 1/4 cup

3. Green chilly – 2

4. Garlic pods – 2-3

5. Bilimbi – 2-3

Ingredients of Wet Masala

What you do with what you have:

1. Wash and dry Basumathi rice on a piece of dry cloth and keep aside.

2. Wash, eal and chop carrots very fine as shown in the image above. Wash, peal and chop onions lengthwise and slit cashews, almonds and kishmish. ( You might want to clean kishmish to remove the sharp stems.

3. Place cooker with 4-5 teaspoons of cooking oil in it on medium flame. when heated add fennel seeds to it and add crushed cardamom, cloves, cinnamon one by one and when fried add chopped onions from step 2 to it.

4. When onions turn transparent add cashews, Almonds, kishmish one after the other.

5. Grind the ingredients of wet masala shown in the above image in the grinder to a smooth consistency adding a little water.

Ground Wet Masala

6. Add the ground wet masala to the fried onions from step 4 and stir for about 3-4 minutes till it gives a pleasant aroma. Add chopped carrots, green peas from step 2 to it and fry for 2-3 minutes.

7. Add Basumathi rice from step 1, water and salt and pressure cook for about 15 minutes.

Ready to serve Mint rice is as shown in the image below. It can be relished with any salad or even just like.

Ready to serve Mint rice

Good to remember:

1. I have used Blimbi for wet masala but if  it is not available one can even use fresh green tomatoes or tamarind also. I prefer Bimbli since they add to the pleasant green color.

Number of servings: 4-5 people

How long it takes: 40 minutes