Baked Brown Rice Paella – An Easy Indian version

Weekend dinner is a time when my family look forward to something exciting and delectable on our dinning table if we have no plans to eat out. The onus falls on me invariably to think and cook something unusual and appetizing as well!  And Paella (pi-AY-ya) an exotic rice dish from Spain, normally made with seafood and seasoned with saffron and other spices is selected for this weekend dinner menu. The recipe is quite easy to prepare and  taste good with black olives. I could not get black Olives and made it with the veggies sitting in my refrigerator.

Saffron gives a unique flavor and dark yellow color to Paella which is prominent if you use the white Basmati rice, But with brown rice only the flavor of saffron is very distinct as the color does not show in the final dish.

Half cooked Brown rice

Brown rice gives a much healthy version of Paella besides giving a nutty and chewy texture to the dish.  Though hard to cook as it takes longer than the white rice but the results are splendid! Soak the brown rice a day before preparing the dish for easy cooking.

Vggies to go in the Paella..

Ingredients;

• 1 cup of Brown rice
• 11/2 cups of Vegetables
• 2 tbsp. Olive oil
• 1 onion
• 2-3 cloves of garlic
• 2 dry red chillies
• 3 cups of vegetable stock/water
• 1/8 tsp/a few strands of Saffron
• 1 tsp. crushed black pepper
• Salt as desired
• 1 small tomato
• 1 tbsp. curd/Yogurt

Method: Wash and soak brown rice till you assemble all the ingredients, or better soak it overnight for better nutritive value. Peel and dice the onion.

I used frozen peas, 1 potato, 1 carrot, 1 capsicum, 1 tomato and a few beans for the veggie mix. Dice all the vegetables in small bite size pieces. Peel the garlic pods.

Crush the dry red chillies and the garlic cloves.

Garlic gives a distinct flavor to Paella

Heat oil in a thick bottom pan and add the sliced onion and the crushed garlic and the red chillies. Add all the diced veggies, salt, saffron, curd, crushed black pepper, brown rice and stir fry for 5-10 minutes.

Pour the vegetable stock or plain water into the rice mix and cook for another 5 minutes. You can cook the Paella on the stove top till the rice is done or can transfer the rice to a baking dish and bake it for 30 minutes at 200°.

Healthy mix of veggies and brown rice!

A healthy mix of veggies and brown rice with all the indigenous vegetables.

A cheesy version..

For a change I sprinkled grated cheddar cheese on top of the cooked Paella and baked it further for a couple of minutes. Let it stand for 5 minutes before serving.

A firm baked Paella..

Notes;

• Replace white long grain rice with the brown rice for another variation of Paella.
• Saffron color comes out very well with the white rice Paella.
• Add veggies of your choice. Black olives, Artichoke and pepper makes an authentic treat.
• Replace a pinch of turmeric if saffron is not available.
• Brown rice gives a healthy and nutty Paella.

This recipe goes to the event WWC- Brown Rice for Dinner hosted on Siri’s blog started on Lite Bite.

Some other Brown rice recipes on Lite Bite;

eggless vegetable risotto

Brown rice dessert