And Thus the Recipe was Born...

Here's one of those recipes that I came up with. A lonely bag of baby carrots in my fridge was the only fresh veggies at hand, so had to build a substantial menu with it :) I also had half a bag of frozen peas and voila! Carrot 'n' Peas Rice was made for lunch! A quick whip of onion and tomato raita, and we were in business.

• 1 cup basmati rice (washed and drained)
• 1.5 cups grated carrot
• 1/4 cup frozen green peas
• 1 small onion, sliced
• 1/4 tspn saunf (fennel) and jeera (whole cumin)
• 1 tbspn ghee or oil
• masala powders, 1/2 tspn each - turmeric, red chilli powder, anardana powder (pomegranate powder) and a pinch of garam masala.
• 2 cups water
• salt to taste

Method

• Heat ghee in a pot and tip in saunf and jeera. Saute for a few seconds.
  
• Put in sliced onion and saute till done.
• Add ginger garlic paste and stir for a few minutes.
• Now throw in the grated carrot, peas and rice and stir gently until the rice is well coated with everything and turns kind of an opaque white.
• Pour in 2 cups of water and stir well.
• Add all the masala powders and salt.
• Give it a good final stir and cook on medium heat until most of the water is absorbed.
• Then reduce to a simmer and cook covered until all the water is absorbed.
• Serve hot with raita.

A handy tip - use a medium grate rather than a fine one. Chunky shreds of carrot, in our experience, suit this recipe better.