One-pot meals align perfectly with Kitchen Therapy’s philosophy – good food, fresh ingredients and minimal effort.
I always enjoy the process of one-pot meals which is strange considering the whole purpose of the one-pot is so to fit in the cooking amidst hectic days, bad moods and times of severe hunger! But the kitchen should always be regarded as the sacred place in your home where worries are left at the door, and all your mind needs to be doing is thinking of food. And the best part of the one-pot meals is just that – you require a handful of minutes to chop and prepare everything and then it’s just a matter of throwing them into the pot and allowing your dinner to come together while you freshen up, pour yourself a glass of wine, and set up your Netflix movie!
In this recipe, we have a bunch of spices cooked together with the vegetables in ghee followed by uncooked rice and then some water to cook everything through, seamlessly. This isn’t a spicy dish, but instead a soothing comfort rice dish that just requires some yogurt or raita on the side and nothing else really. The potatoes and vegetables are added uncooked with the heady masalas – all the stuff you would probably already have stocked in the pantry. If you like spice, go ahead add some more red chillies!
Other ‘one-pot’ dishes:
The Recipe
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups basmati rice, uncooked, rinsed and soaked for half hour
- 1 tbsp ghee
- 1 tsp vegetable oil
- 1/2 tbsp cumin
- 2 tsp coriander seeds (methi dana)
- 1 tsp red chilli powder
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 3 tsp coriander-cumin powder (dhanajeeru)
- 1 tsp garlic, minced
- 1 tsp ginger, grated
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 bay leaf
- 3 star anise
- 3 mace
- 4 cloves
- 1/2 cinnamon stick
- 4 cardamom pods
- 5-6 black peppercorns, whole
- 1/2 tbsp kasturi methi
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 medium potatoes, diced
- 1/2 cup carrots, diced
- 1/2 cup green beans, diced
- 1/2 cup peas
- 2 cups water
- Raita
Instructions
- Take a medium casserole and place on low heat.
- Add the ghee with the cumin and coriander seeds.
- Once they start to sizzle add the remaining spices, onions, garlic and ginger and cook for a few minutes until fragrant.
- Add the vegetables and stir to coat with all the spices.
- Then add the rice and salt, stir to coat the strands.
- Add the water and stir twice.
- Cover the casserole pot and leave to cook for 30 minutes.
- Uncover the pot at 30 minutes, by when the rice and potatoes should be almost ready.
- Cook for additional 5-10 minutes, keep an eye on it.
- Remove from heat and serve hot with side of raita.
