When I realised that I need to go gluten free, I thought it would be a difficult venture. I would miss parathas, upma, sheera… the list goes on. Surprisingly, it wasn’t so tough. I was raised in a South Indian household and rice has always been a major fixture at home. I had just never paid much attention to it till then. I suddenly realised that I had actually inherited a love for rice to which my explorations into other wheat-based dishes had blinded me.
When I went gluten free, I switched to rice and it opened up my palate to a world of delicious flavours. To celebrate that, I decided that the recipes I upload this week will all have rice as their base.
First up, is the savoury Pongal that we have been making at our home every January for, well, the festival of Pongal. (The dish and the festival are named the same, what can I do?). I have a very sweet tooth so I would usually rush to dig into the sweet Pongal made of jaggery instead of this savoury one, but that was my loss. Now that I have been forced to look at rice differently, I have realised that the savoury Pongal is equally delicious.
Next up is Mexican Red Rice. This tomatoey, garlicky rice dish is a great way to bring a bit of Mexico to your table and round off your week!
Late last month, I had published a recipe for Curd Rice – South Indian style. If you are looking for some comfort food, you can check it out too.
Enjoy!
The Vegetarians' Kitchen 