Pulao (Indian Rice Pilaf), 

with store-bought 

Bombay Bhel Mix (crunchy Indian snack mix)

The Pulao includes frozen peas-and-carrots, and is fairly simple in terms of seasonings: cumin seeds, turmeric, and salt. This makes a nice light meal, with whole-milk yogurt. 

Khichdi, or Khichari 

(Red Lentils & Rice)

This is a nourishing Indian comfort food. I made plain masoor dal/red lentils (which turn yellow), to test out the Instant Pot. I did add some chunks of fresh ginger, to help make the dal lighter. After the dal finished cooking, I stirred it, as someone had advised, and the dal just fell apart. (For me, this is great, as this is exactly what I need, for health reasons.) Next, since that worked out nicely, I made some rice separately (on the stovetop), and flavored it with a simple tempering of oil turmeric, and cumin seeds. I did also add salt, at some point. For a meal, I mixed dal with the rice, for Khichdi, and accompanied it with yogurt. Normally, dal and rice are cooked together in this dish, and I'll probably do that next time. For this time, though, I was happy to have it like this.

Spanakorizo (Greek Spinach & Rice)

Throwback to: Spanakorizo (Greek Spinach & Rice). (For details, you can see my post from early May.) This was made from the recipe of Kouzounas Kitchen, and frozen. I enjoyed it recently, with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, scrambled egg, and whole-milk yogurt (not shown here). (The hand model is myself. 😉) This dish was warm and comforting.

Kouzounas Kitchen Facebook

FoodieWineLover Website, Spanakorizo (Spinach & Rice) from Kouzounas Kitchen

Channa Dal with Tomato

This is based on a recipe of @theGutlessFoodie on Instagram. I was inspired by her dal/legume recipe and photo of July 3. However, for some reason, when I actually made it, I thought her recipe used channa dal rather than moong dal. I already had some dry ground channa dal that had been soaking for a couple of hours when I realized this, so I just decided to use it, anyway. I didn't have curry leaves, either, and had to leave out the garlic and green chilies (not good for me). And then I was using some leftover crushed tomatoes, and realized how much of it there was, only when I added it to the dal. The end result was good, but looked nothing like the original it was based on. Maybe next time! 

The Gutless Foodie Facebook 

@theGutlessFoodie Instagram, 3 July 2017

Rizogalo (Greek Rice Pudding)

This is from a recipe by Kouzouna's Kitchen. The original recipe contained coconut milk, but as I had some regular milk opened, I used that, instead. I noticed that the website's other rice pudding recipe called for a cornstarch-milk mixture to thicken it; I decided to use that idea to thicken this pudding, as I didn't have quite enough rice. The pudding smelled heavenly, with the cinnamon stick cooked in it and the vanilla added at the end. Later, after it was cold, I tried some. This pudding was very thick and creamy, sweet but not too sweet. Awesome recipe!

Kouzouna's Kitchen Website, Rizogalo: Greek Rice Pudding

Kouzouna's Kitchen Facebook

Lentil "Meatballs," 

Aloo Mattar (Indian Potatoes & Green Peas, with Roma Tomatoes), 

& Rice

This was last night's supper. I made the "meatballs" from leftover lentil loaf, that I'd stashed in the freezer; the lentil loaf recipe is from Habeeb Salloum's Classic Vegetarian Cooking from the Middle East and North Africa. The full name of the vegetable dish is "Mrs. Kalia's Aloo Mutter," and is from Raghavan Iyer's The Turmeric Trail. With some whole-milk yogurt (not pictured here), it made a complete meal! Yum!

Basmati Rice & Potato Tahdig

Inspired by Instagram's @cooking_for_fun_page & explanation of hikaka & tahdig = the nice brown bits on the underside of cooked rice, I decided to finally try it myself. Underneath the rice were frozen hash brown potatoes = what I had available. You can't see them, but it made the rice smell so good once cooked.