Peanut rice is a spicy, flavorful rice seasoned with a peanut spice mix and then tempered. Great recipe to prepare on one of those lazy days, comfort food and great to pack in lunch boxes.
Fried rice is such a comfort food on lazy days when not in a mood to cook. I often make an omelet and Indian style fried rice when I don’t want to sweat too long in the kitchen. Last month someone posted a peanut rice picture on Facebook and that made me try today’s recipe. I looked at a few recipes online and most of them had similar ingredients with almost same measure of ingredients. I came up with my own version to suit my palate.
What is Peanut Rice?
Simplicity of this rice is that peanut spice powder is mixed with rice and then mixed with a tempering. It is a nice twist and a variation to Indian fried rice that I usually make.
The beauty of this rice is, you can spice powder ahead of time and store it for at least a week in the pantry. To put it all together, all you need to do is cook some rice, mix the peanut spice powder and temper it.
You can use leftover rice for this preparation. This also makes an excellent dish to pack in lunch boxes and for road trips as well. If one likes eating rice with peanut powder and ghee, then this is a must try recipe.
How to serve?
Serve it with some raita or one of your favorite curries. Tomato shorva and chicken shorva also pair well with it. In the picture it is paired with daddojanam.
Groundnut Rice Recipe
Peanut Rice
Equipment
- Frying Pan
- Spice grinder
Ingredients
Main Ingredients
- ½ cup uncooked Rice I used basmati rice and rice cooker measuring cup
- Peanut Spice Powder
- Tempering
Spice Powder
- 2 ½ tbsp Peanuts roasted
- 1 tbsp Coconut Flakes or Dry Coconut Slices
- ¾ tsp Sesame Seeds roasted
- ½ tsp Cumin Seeds
- 4-6 Black Peppercorns
- 2 Dry Red Chilies
- ½– ¾ tsp Salt adjust to taste
Tempering
- 1 ½-2 tbsp Oil
- 5- 8 Curry Leaves
- ¼ tsp Mustard Seeds
- ⅛ tsp Cumin Seeds opt.
- 1-2 Garlic Cloves crushed or 1 – 1 ½ tsp crushed garlic
- ⅛ tsp Turmeric Powder
Instructions
Cook Rice
- Cook rice with 1 cup of water. Let the rice cool.
Spice Powder
- You can make the spice powder ahead of time or when the rice is cooking.
- Dry roast 2 tbsp peanuts and sesame seeds separately, and keep aside.
- Roast together red chilies, cumin and peppercorns until lightly toasted.
- Turn off the heat and add coconut flakes. Coconut flakes roast very fast so add them after turning off the heat.
- Cool and grind to a coarse powder. If storing for few days, add salt as well.
- When rice is cool, mix the rice with peanut powder, salt (if not added to peanut powder) and mix. Add ½ tbsp of roasted peanuts.
Tempering
- Heat oil in a pan.
- Add curry leaves, mustard and cumin seeds. When seeds splutter, add garlic and fry for few seconds. Add turmeric and turn off heat.
- Pour the tempering over rice and mix well. OR add rice to the tempering pan and toss the rice in the hot pan for few seconds.
- Serve as is or with some raita. I made some yogurt rice and served peanut rice as is. Some peanut rice and yogurt rice was a complete meal.
Notes
- Spices – In the recipe I used peppercorn but you can substitute peppercorns with chili powder and/or green chilies. If using chili powder, mix it with rice and if using green chilies, add it when tempering. These three spices give different flavor to rice depending on the spice used. Or you can skip all three and just add one more dry chili to the spice powder. Depending on your mood and taste, pick the spice of your choice.
- Rice – I used freshly cooked rice but this recipe works great with leftover rice.
- Serving Size – If this is the only item on the menu, double the recipe unless quantity of rice mentioned above is sufficient for you.
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This day in 2012: Bell Pepper Paneer Curry
Harini-Jaya R says
Simple and delicious. we make the peanut powder and eat it as and when we want with rice.
cookingwithsapana says
Peanut rice looks so flavorful.Looks too good.
Priya Suresh says
Omg, my all time favourite peanut rice, simply love this nutty rice anytime.
srividhya says
Lovely presentation. Loved those bowls. Nicely done.
Nalini says
Simple yet flavorful rice,perfect for lunch box too.I too make this rice almost the same way..