Capsicum Rice

I love peppers of different colors and try to use them at any given opportunity :-). I was searching for capsicum rice recipe one day and found a whole bunch of them. I combined the spices from a couple of them to suit my taste and it came out very well.

Ingredients (about 2 servings):

Basmati rice - 1 cup (using a measuring cup)
Capsicum (Peppers) - 3 small ones cut into thin slices
Onion - 1 small or 1/2 medium thinly sliced
Cooking oil - 2 tablespoons
Cumin seeds - 1.5 teaspoons
Cilantro - 3 teaspoons finely chopped
Salt to taste

To dry fry and grind into a fine powder:

Dried red chillies - 3 small (vary this to suit your taste)
Urad dhal - 3 teaspoons
Cinnamon - 1/2 inch stick
Cloves - 2 to 3
Cardamom - 1
Whole black pepper - 2 teaspoons (vary this to use your taste)
Roasted unsalted peanuts (optional) - 1 tablespoon

Procedure:

1. Cook 1 cup of basmati rice and set aside.
2. Dry fry dried red chillies, urad dhal, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, whole black pepper and peanuts (if it is roasted, you need not fry them) SEPARATELY, grind them into a smooth powder and set aside.
3. In a wide pan, heat some cooking oil, add cumin seeds and onions and fry until the onions turn light golden brown in color.
4. Add the sliced peppers to the cooked onions in step 3, some salt and cook until the peppers turn soft (but not too soft).
5. To step 4, add the powder from step 2, mix the ingredients well, fry on medium heat for about 3 minutes and switch to low heat thereafter.
6. Add the cooked basmati rice to the pan, mix the contents thoroughly and turn off the stove. Garnish with chopped cilantro. Enjoy the capsicum rice!!!

Tip:
If you make more of the masala powder, you can save it for other curries as well.

For a slight variation in flavor, you can add finely chopped garlic to step 2 before adding the onions. For more flavor, you can also add a couple of teaspoons of ghee (clarified butter) to the rice.

The colored peppers enhance the color of the dish, add a little sweetness to it and also taste great :-). Serve this rice with your favorite raita or chips.