About Mint Rice
This South Indian style mint rice is always a winner for its simplicity, taste and refreshing aroma. Both these recipes are a great way to use up any fresh mint leaves left behind in your refrigerator. Since mint leaves are the star in this pudina rice recipe, I have not used any other veggies. But if you prefer, you can add some mixed vegetables like potatoes, peas, carrots and beans. Do note the flavour changes with the addition of veggies. You can serve this with any curry, plain yogurt, raita or a simple curry. Both vegetarian and non-vegetarian curries go well. Pudina rice can also be taken to school or work. Some vegetable salad or kachumber goes well too. Here are some delicious dishes that go well with this mint rice.Bagara bainganMixed vegetable kurmaSouth Indian chicken kurmaChicken curry Pudina rice can be made in 2 ways. The first method is a one pot recipe where ground mint leaves, coriander leaves, green chilies and onions are sautéed and then the rice is cooked with it. The second method is similar to the South Indian lemon rice and we call this as lemon pudina rice. I can’t tell you how delicious, unique & amazing this tastes! With this method you basically cook the plain rice and then temper it similar to the lemon rice but you have the mint leaves added to the tadka.
Variations you can make
These variations are for the first recipe (one pot) More Rice recipesPulao recipeVeg biryaniGreen peas pulaoTawa pulaoPotato pulao
Recipe 1 – One pot Method
How to Make Pudina Rice (Stepwise photos)
Preparation
- Add ginger garlic, pudina, green chilies, coriander leaves, onions or coconut to a blender jar and make a fine paste, as fine as possible.
- Pour oil to a pressure pan or cooker and heat it. Saute the dry spices till they begin to sizzle. you can even add nuts at this stage or fry and keep them aside for garnishing.
- Add the paste and fry for 2 to 4 minutes, depending on the kind of your utensil. This is done to bring out the flavor of the mixture. Do not burn, stir well, it sticks too quickly. If using mix veggies, you can add them now and saute for 2 mins.
Make Mint Rice
- Pour water and stir in the salt. bring it to a boil.
- Add washed and soaked rice. Stir and cook until the water almost evaporates.
- Close the lid when there is very little water left. Put on the flame to low.Cook for just 5 minutes and switch off. do not let the cooker whistle if using basmathi rice. if using regular rice, allow it to whistle once.
- Lastly open the lid when the pressure goes down. A layer of mint and coconut is visible on top, you can sprinkle lemon juice and fluff up the rice gently. Serve with onion raita or potato kurma or egg masala curry.
Pro tips
Salt & vinegar can be sprinkled over the mint leaves and set aside for 10 minutes before cleaning. This helps to get rid of the pesticide residue on the leaves.To skip blending the leaves in a blender, try to mince them as finely as possible.
Lemon Mint Rice – Recipe 2
Lemon pudina rice recipe – one of the most easiest and flavorful rice that can be made for lunch box or for a quick meal. This is one of our favorites and preferred over the regular lemon rice. It can be served without any side. But to add little more nutrition to the meal, we accompany it with raita Raita or a quick mixed vegetable salad. Here are the ingredients to make
Ingredients
1 cup rice uncookedoil as needed1 cup pudina leaves or mint leaves (tightly packed)1 sprig curry leaves½ tsp mustard¾ tbsp chana dal (optional)½ to ¾ tbsp urad dal (optional)2 tbsp peanuts or cashewsturmeric powder littlelemon juice as needed(as much as we use for lemon rice)1 broken red chili2 green chilies (skip for kids or deseed use 1)olive oil (optional)½ to ¾ tsp grated ginger (optional)
Instructions
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