Chettinad Style Tomato Vermicelli 

This recipe was from Archana's Kitchen. This is like a Pulao, but made with seviyan instead of rice. Seviyan are vermicelli, but these noodles are very small and also broken into fairly small pieces. I used a vermicelli from a Middle Eastern grocery store, similar to the vermicelli from the Indian grocery store. The dish also included mustard and fennel seeds, fresh ginger, cilantro, turmeric, and a cinnamon stick. This result was colorful and yummy, as well as simple, and helped me use up some leftover canned tomatoes. So, win-win all around! 

Archana's Kitchen Website, Chettinad Style Tomato Vermicelli

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. 

Sabzi Pulao (Vegetable Rice Pilaf) - another view

Another view of the Sabzi Pulao. It contains mustard seeds and sambhar powder normally in South Indian dishes, as well as other spices from traditional North Indian pulaos. It's easy, with a dish like this, to make enough to feed half an army, so I like to freeze the extra for another time when I'm too tired or busy to cook.

Sabzi Pulao (Vegetable Rice Pilaf)

Sabzi Pulao from The Turmeric Trail by Raghavan Iyer, except it contains cauliflower instead of potato. Aside from the addition of a couple of spoonfuls of ground cashews for protein, and using less oil, it otherwise follows the recipe. I used to make this recipe all the time, but it's been a while. I like to eat it with yogurt and potato chips.