Green Beans Rice

Have you ever felt like you don't want to do anything? Today was such a day for me. Didn't want to cook or clean or go out either. Whenever I say I am bored to cook, there is always the same reply. "Let's go out to eat then". As I said, I was in the least of the mood to get dressed and go out to eat. I opened the refrigerator and saw a bag of green beans that I had bought other day. Necessity to use up that green beans lead to this dish.

Rice with any kind of vegetables is a no brainer for a South Indian. Because, you mix veggies with some rice and add Vangibhath Powder, add some lime juice and you are done. One pot meal is ready in no time. But, I had no powder on hand and I came up with a different variation of spice powder without roasting any spices. Result was a delicious one pot meal. If you use frozen green beans, you save the time on chopping it too. Anything to make a lazy day lazier...

One year back - Corn Salad, Carrot Raisin Bread
Ingredients:
Rice - 2 Cups uncooked (Sona Masoori or Basmati)
Green Beans - Chopped about 4 cups (2 pounds before cleaning - See Notes)
Oil - 4 TBSP
Salt - to taste
Red Chillies - 3 broken into pieces
Curry leaves - few
Mustard - 1 tsp
Cilantro - chopped 4 TBSP
Lime - 1
Shredded coconut - 1/4 cup - 1/2 cup
Peanuts - 3 TBSP

To make a powder:
Roasted peanuts - 2 TBSP (dry roast peanuts and then use or use already roasted ones)
Cumin - 1 tsp
Black pepper - 1 tsp
Red Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp or to taste
Cloves - 1/2 tsp (not powdered)
Coriander seeds - 10 - 12
Cinnamon - 1" stick not too wide

Method:
Cook rice in enough water with a pinch of salt. When completely done, fluff with a fork and let it cool. In a pan, heat oil. When hot, add mustard seeds. When they splutter, add broken red chillies, curry leaves, peanuts. When peanuts are toasted, add chopped green beans. Sprinkle some salt and mix. Let it cook.
Meanwhile, make the spice powder ready. When the beans are cooked and tender to bite, add the spice powder, coconut and stir. Lower the heat so that the raw smell of spices mellow a bit.  Add the cooled rice and mix it all very well. Adjust the salt and add chopped cilantro. Keep it on low heat for couple of minutes with lid closed. Turn off the heat. Squeeze the lime juice on the rice and mix well. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Notes:
You could use french cut frozen green beans too. If you don't want to make the spice powder, you could use red chilli powder mixed with some garam masala and grind that with roasted peanuts. But, garam masala has different proportions of the spices so it will taste differently.

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