My breakfast today: black beans and rice with green chilies. It's pretty simple. Most of you could eat this without the chilies. I am Vata-dominant, so in the Autumn I need a lot of heat in my food to keep from getting dried out and then congested.
Everyone says I make the best rice, so I'm going to share my recipe for it here.
How I make my rice:
-Over low heat, I first put a spoonful of coconut oil in the pot and melt it. Sometimes it's more than a spoonful, it's just supposed to be enough to coat all the rice that I'm using.
-Before I add the rice to the oil, I put whatever spices I'm going to use in the oil. Adding the spices to the oil allows the spice flavored to permeate the whole dish rather than just sticking to certain places on the rice.
-For my basic rice recipe, I use a palm full of coriander powder added to the coconut oil. After letting it infuse into the oil for maybe 30 seconds then I add the rice.
-When I add the rice to the pot, I stir it to make sure it all gets coated with the oil.
-After all the grains of rice are thoroughly coated with oil, add the water to the pot. I use a 1:2 ratio of rice to water. So however much dry rice I'm using, I put twice that amount of water in.
-When the water is added, I turn the heat up to high and bring the water to a boil. I do not cover the pot!
-I let the water boil and make sure it's at a good rolling boil for about a minute. Then, I cover the pot, remove the pot from the heat, and let it sit for 15 minutes.
-Usually, depending on the environmental conditions, after 15 minutes all the water is absorbed and the rice is done! Sometimes, if it's extremely humid outside, it takes a little longer.
I hope you all enjoy playing with this recipe! You can add different spices to the oil at the beginning. You can also use ghee instead of coconut oil. Play with the flavors and have fun!