Beans and Greens Rice with Ground Sambar Paste

It is always good to eat foods that are high in fibre and low in fat.Fresh vegetables and fruits are always good in our daily cooking and diet.I try to keep it that way most of the time ,but still sometimes get tempted with outside food too.Three days back my kids wanted to eat Tacos ,they did not want to eat anything other than that.So rushed to store and got some taco shells and a package of shredded red and green cabbage ,low fat sourcream and canned black beans and shredded cheese from the store.Once I opened the black beans to add in the tacos,it was very spicy and salty.So I dropped the idea of using them and quickly cooked some whole moong in the cooker without salt and used it instead of beans.They enjoyed it.

Sorry for such a long story,what I wanted to mention is the beans were very spicy and salty.I wanted to use it later and put it in the fridge.In the afternoon I was busy with kids outside and had to prepare a quick dinner as they were going out.I decided to use the black beans and some leftover cooked whole moong and made a quick rice.You won't believe that I did not add any salt or chilly powder in this dish and still it was spicy and the salt was just right------from this one can understand that the salt in the canned beans was so much that it was sufficient to flavor the rice. We all need to be Beware of the salts that we are consuming when we eat out or use canned food.

Well, coming to today's recipe,we liked it but next time I will use home cooked beans only----------

Main Ingredients :

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Raw Rice.............................2cups(Uncooked)

Black Beans.........................1can(it  had jalapenos in it)

Whole Green Moong............1/2cup(cooked without salt)

Onions..................................3(small)

Kasoori Methi.......................1/3 cup

Baby Spinach........................1.5cup(packed)

Seasoning Ingredients :
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Fresh Sambar Masala Paste...........1/2 cup(For the recipe go here)
Canola Oil.....................................2tbsp

Garnish
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Cilantro.............................few leaves

Preparation :
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Cook the rice and keep it aside to cool.Place a pan on the stove on high heat and add oil to it.Once the oil heats up add the onions and fry them for 2 minutes and add the kasuri methi(fenugreek) leaves and stir well.Let cook for few more minutes till the onions are translucent.

Once the onions and methi leaves are cooked add the cooked moong beans and stir well and cook for 3 more minutes.Now add the black beans tot the pan and stir well and let it cook for few 3 more minutes.

Now that the onions,methi,moong and black beans are cooked add the freshly made sambar masala paste to the pan and stir well so that the masala spreads in well.Cook till the raw smell of the sambar masala is gone.Now add baby spinach to the pan and cook for a minute or two.

Finally add the cooked rice to the beans and greens mix and fold in the rice  so that all flavors blend in well.Finally garnish with finely chopped cilantro.

Delicious Beans and Greens rice is ready to be served.

Note :
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1) This rice is a wonderful combination of greens and beans.

2) In case of emergency canned beans come handy.Otherwise it's always good to use home-cooked beans.

3) The salt and the small jalapeno pieces in the black beans flavored the entire dish.Think of the amount of salt it had!

4) In this entire dish I did not add any salt or chilly powder.Sambar Masala Paste and Moong Beans did not have any salt in it.

This goes to MLLA #24 hosted by Diana and started by Susan.

This goes to Healing Foods : Onion Event hosted by Priya and started by Siri .