Over this week, I felt very bored of cooking the usual Indian meals and wanted to try something different. So I decided to make Mexican rice and stared looking for some veggie recipes. I found this simple veggie recipe and I started picking out bell peppers, corn, green peas and onion/tomatoes, for the dish. That is when my eyes fell on the little leftover cream, from the other day, that I had stashed away in the fridge after making butter. Now I almost felt an urgent need to put that to use before it went bad.
So change of plans… no more Mexican rice but what then? Back to some creamy Indian dish? Humm no, I wanted to make something new but what kind of rice could I make with cream other than Indian. So I started cutting the veggies aimlessly hoping for that eureka moment.
I heated the pan and started adding oil and butter. Then started to look for my spices and I found the chilli lime seasoning & some garlic powder. I added these and some turmeric to the hot oil and it smelled awesome. Then went the onion followed by potatoes, capsicum, peas and corn. I also added some smoked paprika to this mix along with salt. The aroma was just getting better and better. Now the color of the veggie mix reminded me of Spanish rice also known as paella.
I went ahead and added the cream to the vegetable mix and let it all cook well, took about 7-8 minutes. I added a little water as the cream is thick and the veggies needed some more water to cook down. Once it was well done I added the cooked rice and mixed it till all of the rice was coated with the mixture, then garnished with some dry oregano leaves and fresh coriander leaves. There it was… After all I ended up making the close cousin of Mexican Rice. Small world it is 😁.
I had read somewhere that Mexican and Spanish rice are mistaken to be the same but actually they are slightly different in how they are made. Spanish rice is more yellow due to the addition of saffron or sometimes turmeric where as the Mexican rice is more heavy on tomato and cumin flavors. So now this dish got a name to it LOL….I decided to call it a Creamy Spanish style Rice.
This is in no way authentic Spanish rice, but has the soul of one. This Spanish style rice is packed with delicious spices and vegetables. Traditional paellas come in many forms, but what is created in your kitchen to your liking, it tastes the best.
Hubby and Kids just loved the version so much that they wanted the same meal the next day. I was super thrilled and promised to make it again next week. Change of ingredients and flavors and good old rice was completely transformed. Now that was lunch done right don’t you think?
Does the dish require cooked rice and cream ?
No. I had some leftover rice so I decided to use it this way. If you are cooking everything from scratch, you can simply add the rice to the sautéed vegetable mix and pressure cook or cook over the stove top. Add 1:1 – rice:water or based on the rice you are using. It is ok for the rice to be a bit mushy.
Also Cream is not a must. Substitute with your preferred type of dairy – almond milk or whole milk or you can choose to completely skip it.
What other Veggies can be used?
Any veggies of choice like asparagus, Brussels sprouts, and even kidney beans or garbanzo beans can be used in the dish. I would pre cook the beans and use more spices if I use the lentils so it flavors the beans well.
Creamy Spanish rice
Equipment
- Instant Pot duo – 6 quart to cook the Rice
- Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 4 cups Cooked rice
- 2 tbs oil
- 2 tbs butter
- 1 potato sliced
- 1 onion small
- 1 Cup capsicum – red and yellow
- 1 cup peas an corn
- 2 tomatoes small
- 1/2 cup cream
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- Turmeric a pinch
- 1 tsp Chili lime powder
- 1 tsp dry oregano
- 1/2 cup Water
- cilantro for garnish
Instructions
- In a pan add the oil and butter in equal parts. You can also just go with oil of your choice
- Add the chopped onions, turmeric, garlic powder and Chili lime powder and saute it for 3 minutes
- When the onion starts to turn translucent add the potatoes, capsicum , green peas and corn.
- Cover the mix and cook for 10 minutes in medium flame or till the potatoes are cooked soft.
- At this point add the chopped tomatoes and cream and let it cook for another 5 minutes.
- Add a little water, about 1/2 cup, if needed. It should not be too watery. let the mix boil in high for 2 mins.
- Turn down the heat before adding the cooked rice and mix it well. Crush and add the dry oregano and give it all a mix.
- Turn off the stove and let the mixture sit for 5 mins. Garnish with coriander and serve hot.
Notes
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