Now, when the whole world is going through a tough time, the family still wants tasty food, but there is shortage of commodities due to lock down. A simple way is to store the left-over food safely. At times, you may have little bit of left over sambar / rasam / kuttu/ any gravy, some dry veges or a combo of these, don't fret, all you need is onion, tomato, capsicum if it is there, not a must. It is that time to put on your thinking/ creative cap , surely you're going to come with great ideas. Good luck.
For vegetable rice
heat oil, add jeera, once it crackles, add finely chopped onion, once it turns light brown, add tomatoes, saute for few minutes adding little salt and turmeric pdr. You may add green chilies or red chili pdr according to taste, add capsicum if you're using, you can add potatoes, peas, carrot, it just depends how much is left over and for how many you're making. So, according to that and whatever veges, the family likes, you can add. You can garam masala, or Kitchen king masala, once the veges are cooked, add whatever is left over, add finely chopped coriander leaves, salt as needed, let it boil well for 2-3 minutes on low flame, then add rice as required, mix well, add some ghee, nuts if you like. serve hot with papad/ chips and raita if desired. It makes a complete meal, also helps you finish the left overs !
Cutlet- Substitute for rice flour
Yesterday, I've posted a recipe of cutlet using white beans/ lobia/ karamani. You can use kidney beans, chickpeas, green moong dal, then use whatever vege you've. I used onion and carrot. In case, you've any leftover vege, you can use that. I had mentioned use rice flour, if you don't have rice flour, no problem, use corn flour if you've, no corn flour, then use maida/ all purpose flr and semolina/ suji or breadcrumbs. This is needed for binding, the quantity will depend on how much of left over lentils, for how many people you're making. Using any substitute for rice flr. is needed to make it crisp.
Sandwich stuffing with left overs
Once I had a lot of left over kuttu- which is basically dal with veges. So, I had a brain wave, I fried some onion, whatever masala I felt like, then add the kuttu, let it simmer to thicken. Then I cooled it. Buttered the bread slices, put the stuffing I made, added some grated cheese, made in the sandwich maker. Family just loved it, ultimately I ran short of stuffing, last few had to make with plain cheese and some dry coriander chutney I had.
The stuffing, you can do with whatever is left over, as per your taste, add the seasonings, then you'll notice, when the form is changed of a food, family loves the taste and it will get over in no time.
Left-over rice
There are many options with it, you can make kichdi/ pongal by cooking dal and adding rice and seasoning as you normally do for pongal.
You've a sweet tooth, you can cook dal if you want, or simply add ghee, fry some nuts and raisins, add rice, add gur to taste, keep stirring on low flame till the gur has melted and it is all well mixed, remove adding some cardamom pdr.
You can make kheer/ payasam
mash the rice well, add milk, let it simmer, stirring from time to time, once the milk has thickened add sugar to taste, let it boil well till sugar has melted, then add some fried nuts and raisins.
I had once made pakoras with leftover rice
Mashed the rice well, added some finely chopped onion, little besan, salt and chili pdr to taste and made pakoras deep frying it, my friend dropped in suddenly, served her some, as she is a foodie. She couldn't guess out of what I had made, when I told her leftover rice, she said I was lying, daughter was there, to convince her.
For vegetable rice
heat oil, add jeera, once it crackles, add finely chopped onion, once it turns light brown, add tomatoes, saute for few minutes adding little salt and turmeric pdr. You may add green chilies or red chili pdr according to taste, add capsicum if you're using, you can add potatoes, peas, carrot, it just depends how much is left over and for how many you're making. So, according to that and whatever veges, the family likes, you can add. You can garam masala, or Kitchen king masala, once the veges are cooked, add whatever is left over, add finely chopped coriander leaves, salt as needed, let it boil well for 2-3 minutes on low flame, then add rice as required, mix well, add some ghee, nuts if you like. serve hot with papad/ chips and raita if desired. It makes a complete meal, also helps you finish the left overs !
Cutlet- Substitute for rice flour
Yesterday, I've posted a recipe of cutlet using white beans/ lobia/ karamani. You can use kidney beans, chickpeas, green moong dal, then use whatever vege you've. I used onion and carrot. In case, you've any leftover vege, you can use that. I had mentioned use rice flour, if you don't have rice flour, no problem, use corn flour if you've, no corn flour, then use maida/ all purpose flr and semolina/ suji or breadcrumbs. This is needed for binding, the quantity will depend on how much of left over lentils, for how many people you're making. Using any substitute for rice flr. is needed to make it crisp.
Sandwich stuffing with left overs
Once I had a lot of left over kuttu- which is basically dal with veges. So, I had a brain wave, I fried some onion, whatever masala I felt like, then add the kuttu, let it simmer to thicken. Then I cooled it. Buttered the bread slices, put the stuffing I made, added some grated cheese, made in the sandwich maker. Family just loved it, ultimately I ran short of stuffing, last few had to make with plain cheese and some dry coriander chutney I had.
The stuffing, you can do with whatever is left over, as per your taste, add the seasonings, then you'll notice, when the form is changed of a food, family loves the taste and it will get over in no time.
Left-over rice
There are many options with it, you can make kichdi/ pongal by cooking dal and adding rice and seasoning as you normally do for pongal.
You've a sweet tooth, you can cook dal if you want, or simply add ghee, fry some nuts and raisins, add rice, add gur to taste, keep stirring on low flame till the gur has melted and it is all well mixed, remove adding some cardamom pdr.
You can make kheer/ payasam
mash the rice well, add milk, let it simmer, stirring from time to time, once the milk has thickened add sugar to taste, let it boil well till sugar has melted, then add some fried nuts and raisins.
I had once made pakoras with leftover rice
Mashed the rice well, added some finely chopped onion, little besan, salt and chili pdr to taste and made pakoras deep frying it, my friend dropped in suddenly, served her some, as she is a foodie. She couldn't guess out of what I had made, when I told her leftover rice, she said I was lying, daughter was there, to convince her.