Cilantro Pot rice (Spinach Infused)

Cilantro Pot Rice (Spinach infused)

I absolutely love this rice preparation. It is also called as Coriander Pot rice and its served at one of my favorite vegetarian restaurants located in Ghatkoper, Bombay (Yes, I still prefer calling it Bombay rather than Mumbai. Its still got an old charm to it. :) ) Anyways, coming back to this recipe, I had tried to replicate this dish back home and managed to nail it after few attempts. The original recipe asks for Ajinomoto to be added to it. However this time I chose to not add it. Couple of times before, I added sesame seeds while tempering just to give it a different flavor. That was good as well. So this time, I tried something different. I infused spinach juice while cooking the rice to get the flavor into it. I was experimenting with this and was impressed with the result. It did turn out well. The spinach did not stain the rice though but just gave the right flavor to it. I made it for 6 adults, hence the proportions are more. You can alter it according to your need.
This dish is also my go to recipe when I have no veggies at home and want a quick fix. So do try it out and let me know if you like it too. :)



Ingredients
2 bunch of cilantro, fine chopped
2 cups of spinach
3 cups of basmati rice
1 large onion
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
8-10 of garlic cloves
2 tbsp of ginger garlic paste
5-6 green chillies
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp Cumin seeds
3 tbsp of dhania jeera powder
2 tbsp of garam masala
2-3 tbsp Ghee for cooking

Method
Soak basmati rice for 20 minutes. Drain the water. Grind raw spinach with little water to a juice like consistency. Use this instead of water to cook the rice. Use the same proportions you would otherwise use if using water. I added 6 cups of water for 3 glasses of rice. Cook the rice either in rice cooker or regular cooker. Once cooked, let it cool down and spread it on a plate to separate the grains. Since we soaked the rice before, it makes this easy. My kitchen was filled with the aroma of basmati rice and spinach. This is how it looks - refer pic below.

 In a non stick pan, add the ghee. Once it gets hot, temper the cumin seeds. They fry the garlic, ginger garlic paste, green chillies and onion. Saute them till the raw smell disappears. Now add the peas and cilantro along with little salt. Fry them for a minute or two. Add the garam masala, dhania jeera powder and pepper powder. Mix and cook for another minute. Now add the spinach infused rice to this and mix well. Adjust salt as needed. Add little more ghee if the rice looks very dry. The rice is ready. Enjoy it with raita and papad. Enjoy!