Often, we find ourselves wasting food and especially throwing rice away.
But, is this wastage necessary or justified? It is not. It is never okay to waste food, also when you can re-use it. Yes, leftover rice can be transformed completely to a new and delicious dish. So, here are some ways you can use leftover rice to make yourselves something great!
1.Vegetable Fried Rice
The first thing that comes to almost everyone’s mind when we talk of re-using rice to make a scrumptious bowl of fried rice. Toss some garlic, ginger, onions, vegetables, sauces, spices and leftover rice. You can choose vegetables and spices of your liking and there you have a tasty and new dish.
2.Rice Pudding/Rice Kheer
If there is one dish that is liked by everyone, across all the age groups is our humble kheer. Super easy to make, you can use leftover rice to make rice kheer. Add sugar, cinnamons, leftover rice to milk and you have your delicious kheer ready. Also, you can add milkmaid or dry fruits if you have them available at home.
3.Stuffed Tomatoes
Looking for simple side dishes for lunch or dinner? Then you must try tomatoes stuffed with leftover rice. All you need to do is season and flavour your leftover rice with your favourite spices. Slice off the top layer of a tomato and extract its insides. Add your rice to it and cover it with sliced tomato layer. Drizzle your tomatoes with some oil and spices and bake it. You can also cook it covered on a gas stove.
4.Rice Pakodas
Evening snacks are always in, right? And there is no way that us Indians can ever get tired of Pakodas or Fritters. So, go ahead and mix your leftover rice with onions, green chillies, spices and make a nice batter. Crispy on outside and soft on the inside, these rice pakodas will make for a perfect tea-time snack.
5.Lemon Rice
Tangy, sour and flavourful lemon rice makes a constant appearance in our food routine. A very popular recipe from the Southern parts of India, this can make your lazy days better. Temper some spices, turmeric, peanuts and mix it will the leftover rice. Drizzle it with lemon juice, coriander leaves and mix it all well. And, there you have your lemon rice ready to be devoured.
6.Curd Rice
Curd Rice, you may ask? Curd rice might sound very simple to you. But, it takes new form in South India. Curd rice here is tempered with jeera seeds, mustard seeds, dried red chillies, green chillies and curry leaves. Some also add a dash of pepper to it. Often, served at the end of every meal, this is wholesome and has a soothing and calming effect on the body.
7.Rice Idly
Did you know that your favourite breakfast can be made with leftover rice? While cooking the idlys might not consume much time but the preparation will take a few hours. You will have to soak your leftover rice for around 5-6 hours and then grind it with soaked urad dal. Once the grinding is done, you will have to allow it to ferment over-night and you have delicious idly batter ready to go in the moulds.
8.Rice Cutlets
You must have tasted cutlets made with potatoes, chicken and mutton. But, did you ever try to make some with rice? Crispy and delicious, rice cutlets are super easy to make. Just add it with your choice of filling; potatoes, kheema or any filling that you prefer and cook them the way you’d cook your cutlets.
9.Chicken and Egg Rice
An aromatic rice recipe flavoured with several spices and garam masala, you ought to try making Chicken and Egg rice with leftover rice. Cook the chicken with spices, soy sauce and vinegar, add leftover rice to it and also add fried egg to it. And your delicious Chicken and Egg rice is ready. Serve it with raita.
10.Burnt Garlic Rice
One of our favourite Indo-Chinese dishes, which we miss savouring at various chinese bandis and restaurants is this Burnt Garlic Rice. All you need to make this dish is lots and lots of garlic. Take your favourite veggies and fry them with lots of garlic and soya sauce. Add the leftover rice to it and you have your favourite dish in front of you.
