Thursday, April 5, 2012

Quick fix for lunch - paneer, chole pulao



I love Odiya food, which means a lot of rice and fish. I love my rice and in all forms whether it is pakhala or fried rice or ghee anna or chuda bhaja. I also realized that I do have few other rice dishes here too, well I guess I cook rice variations often. But these days with my attempts at eating healthy, I am trying to take a more wholesome meal to work for lunch. This is still rice, so still loads of carbohydrates, but I have added some nuts, chole, paneer and raita to balance the meal out a bit. This is all made from left over chole, paneer from the previous day, so if you dont have have paneer or chole, feel free to play with the protein/nut of your choice. Add some boiled veggies or frozen veggies and it will be even more nutritious! Here is to healthy good food!


Ingredients
1 cup cooked rice
1/2 cup chole
some paneer chunks
3-4 cashew, broken into bits
1 tea spoon of Shaan Biryani Masala
1 green chili
Mint leaves - handful
Salt to taste
1 tea spoon of Olive Oil

How To

Heat a spoon of oil on medium heat in large pan. When it is hot, add the cashew bits.
Then add the green chillies and paneer, and keep stirring until paneer turns slightly golden in color.
Now add the cooked chole and cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.
Now add the rice, salt and Shaan biryani masala and mint leaves and mix well and remove from the fire.
Pack lunch and enjoy at work with some minty cucumber raita!

40 comments:

  1. I Love rice- probably south indian weakness :) This rice sounds quicky version with protein and cheese. How do u make minty raita? (my guess: curd+ mint+ green chilli )

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    1. Cham - agreed. I think it is the Indian weakness or maybe the odiya weakness - who knows!
      Minty Raita - is a quick grind of green chillies, mint leaves and salt, mixed with the beaten yogurt and chopped cucumber. Don't have time for all that, mix the picy mint chutney available from Indian store with yogurt too! Works great!.

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  2. Replies
    1. Yes I have to keep it simple and quick, else I end up not packing food...
      ANything elaborate won't work!

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  3. I like rice too. more than with curries and jhols I prefer to have it as an one pot meal. this one looks delicious.

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    1. Sayantani - I know. I love these 1 pot ones, so easy to put together and carry too...
      Not that I don't like my aloo jhols or maccha jhols!

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  4. Nice..easy one pot wonder! Good luck with the healthy food goal - same pinch! :) have a nice weekend,dear! Let's catch up over email/FB - as I tell any Odiya person I meet, we must be connected in some manner from back home! :)

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    1. I know you love these easy one pot ones too. But then if someone is making and serving, I would love my pakhala bhata too with all its side dishes too...
      SUre will send you an email. Lets get in touch!

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  5. Indeed an quick fix idea...love it..makes an ideal lunch box recipe.....

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  6. This is so awesome. I love the fact that its packed with not just nutrients but flavors too! I will have to make it soon.

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  7. Wonderful idea ..perfect for those lazy days

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  8. beautifully made ...love the combination of chole n paneer...so healthy
    Super Yummy Recipes

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  9. That's a well balanced meal dear. Looks so yummy and I can have it any time.

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  10. Delicious protein-rich briyani..

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  11. That's really a quick fix lunch for sure. I know my son would like this.Channa rice was my staple entree during my grad school days. I would buy garbanzo beans cans and quicly make a pulao with basmati rice and eat it with raita.

    PS: About the brown rice doubt you asked in my adai post, ya you can make the switch like white rice powder. Works perfectly fine. Infact first try soaking the urad dhal and brown rice and make a batter in a blender/mixie. My recipe was tested over time and again in Preethi mixie. So it will definitely work well with a blender too. You can use either short or long grain brown rice. Hope this helps.

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    1. I have an Indian mixie too. I will switch to brown rice for dosa and feel less guilty I guess. Thanks a lot for the tip! I will let you know once I try it...

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  12. Amazing recipe, looks completely delicious! Miriam@Meatless Meals For Meat Eaters

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  13. I love this combo. Looks delicious.

    Saraswathi Iyer

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  14. The pulao looks so good, I want to just pick up that plate and raita :)

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  15. Very nice combination, should be good to have chole here and there in the pulav along with paneer. Should try for lunch box :)

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  16. Love this. As you said a perfect lunch box recipe

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  17. Looks yum...the chole and the paneer combination took me back to my Delhi days :-)

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  18. Protein rich pulao, simply delicious...

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  19. @Gayathri - thanks... Glad you liked it.

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  20. Looks flavorful,,,luv one pot meal,..

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    1. thanks... glad you stopped by and liked something...

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  21. Wow.. looks lovely!... yummy pulao. perfectly done.

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  22. hiii... nice blog and nice recipes... m also a new blogger... pls have a look and give me ur feedback. looking forward for your encouragement...

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    1. @happyhealthycooking - thanks for dropping by. Sure will check out blog.

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