Spinach(palak) and carrot rice

I have been thinking of making spinach and carrot rice eversince I saw the recipe in Tarla Dalal's mini series cookbook titled Fun food for children. The only reason I kept on postponing was, I was not sure if my 2 year old son would eat it or not. Finally I got to make it this weekend. Surprsingly, my son ate it and we all too liked it very much. According to Tarla Dalal, its a easy, healthy, colorful and tasty dish and I too second it.

I did not use onions and garlic(mentioned in the original recipe) as I was not sure if my son would like it(we have not introduced him to onions and garlic as yet), also I am not a big fan of onion.:-) Son had the rice as it is, we had with onion raita(onion pieces mixed with seaosoned yogurt)

Ingredients to serve four adults

Cooked rice: 4 cups or 670 gms(I used Basmati rice)
Palak/Spinach: 3 1/2 cups or 200gms(chopped into small pieces)
Carrot: 1 1/2 cups or 170 gms(grated)
Cumin seeds: 1 tbsp
Pepper powder: 1/2 tsp
Onion: 2 sliced(I did not use it)
Garlic: 2 large cloves(I did not use it)
Seasoning cube(vegetarian): 1(I did not use it)
Butter: 2 tbsp
Salt to taste

Procedure

1. Heat butter in a pan/kadai and add the cumin seeds.
2. Add the onions and garlic and saute for 2 minutes.
3. Add the carrots and spinach and saute for another 2 minutes.
4. Add the cooked rice, seasoning cube, pepper powder, salt and 1/4 cup and mix well.(I did not add water)
5. Cook on low flame for 5 to 7 minutes till the moisture evaporates.(as I did not add water, I removed from heat after mixing well)

Healthy spinach and carrot rice is ready.

Note: I did not add onions as I have not yet introduced onions to my son. I think for older kids, onions and garlic can be added and it would definitely improve the taste of the dish. It is also mentioned in the book that 1/2 cup of uncooked rice makes approximately 2 cups of cooked rice.

I am sending this to Cooking for kids-Leafy greens guest hosted by Pavani, event originally started by Sharmi and EFM Theme -Breakfast Series hosted by Srilekha of Srishkitchen.