What was your favorite part of the day during your school/college days? Was it by any chance the lunch time? For me it was. I always used to look forward to the lunch time & the period just before the lunch interval was the hardest to concentrate ;) Lunch interval is not just about good food, but also quality time with good friends… a great cocktail mix!
Lunch time can also be called as the sharing time. Along with the yummy treats of home cooked food, all major news were also shared. All the latest gossip in school/college like the new IT couple or the latest movie or your latest crush ;) & what not… were all discussed in that small time. It indeed was a blissful time!
So, tell me… Did you have any favorite lunch time food? I used to take breakfast items for lunch. But what’s interesting is that I still clearly remember what my friends used to bring. Yep, there were days that I wasnt very happy about my lunch especially if it was something like upma. On those days my morning prayer usually goes like this: “God please let Jeena bring her mom’s cutlets or Reji bring her homemade butter & sugar sandwich or Harpreet bring her Punjabi kadhi & rice or Anu bring her stuffed chapathi, for lunch (& the list goes on..), along with petitions for the Maths teacher to be absent, because I havent studied for the class test”. It was such a simpler time! All you had to worry about was upma for lunch & some class tests.
Anyways coming back to lunch menus, I particularly remember something called Jaldi fried rice which my friend Jeena used to bring. Its called Jaldi rice because it was made by her mom in a jiffy, when she used to wake up late in the morning. Now you know how my tomato rice got the name “Jaldi tomato rice”. I usually make this when I’m in no mood for elaborate lunch cooking with many curries. I just make some flavoured rice like this & some curry & spice up the whole menu with raita, pappad & pickle :)
Before going to the recipe, let me wish you a very happy friendship day! Friends are a blessing that you need to be thankful for along with your family.
About the recipe, its just a very simple recipe. You might be making this already. However in this recipe, I’ve used only a few basic ingredients, its mainly intended for those days when you are lazy to cook ;) It’s been sometime I’ve posted a rice recipe, so I thought of sharing this with you.
Here is the recipe:
- Rice (refer notes) – 1 cup
- Onion – 1 medium, chopped
- Tomato – 1 medium -big, chopped
- Scrambled egg – 1 (optional)
- Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
- Chilli powder – 1 – 1½ tsp
- Mint & coriander leaves – 1 tbsp each, chopped
- Salt
- Oil ( I use sunflower)
- Cook the rice in the normal method. Make sure that the rice is not over cooked. Heat oil in a pan & add chopped onion. Cook it till it becomes soft & starts changing colour. Add chopped tomato. Cook it till it becomes soft. Add turmeric & chilli powder. Cook for 1-2 mins, till the raw smell goes. Add salt & chopped mint & coriander leaves. Mix well. Add scrambled egg (if you are adding) & stir. Add cooked rice. Give a good mix. Cover & cook for 2-3 minutes. Remove from fire. Serve hot with any curry, raita, pickle & pappad.
