This fast and flavorful dish is a simple recipe, quick and easy-to-make and so tasty! I got this capsicum rice recipe from one of our pot-luck party friends and I tweaked the recipe a bit to add more spice and crunch to it. Fresh crunchy capsicums, masala flavor and crunchy peanuts jazz up the taste of the rice dish and make this recipe a real winner!

This rice dish is made by combining cooked rice in a roasted spice blend of cinnamon, red chillis,black gram,cumin,roasted peanuts and coriander seeds in ghee, infused with seasoning of mustard seeds, aromatic curry leaves and capsicums and garnished with roasted peanuts. The crunchy peanuts both in the spice blend and as a garnish lend the rice its unmistakable flavor.

Capsicum Masala Rice Recipe
Recipe source: Amma
Prep & Cooking: 30-35 mts
Serves: 4-5 persons
Cuisine: Andhra.

Ingredients:
3 cups of cooked rice (each grain should be separate, add a tsp of ghee to the rice and combine)
1 1/2 tbsp ghee/oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
10-12 fresh curry leaves
2 big capsicums (bell peppers - thinly sliced)
Salt to taste
1 tbsp grated fresh coconut (optional) 1 tbsp roasted peanuts (garnish)

To be roasted in ghee and ground to a fine pwd:
3-4 dry red chillis (adjust to your spice level)
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp black gram dal (minappappu)
1" cinnamon stick (dal chinichakka)
2 tbsp roasted peanuts
1 tsp ghee (clarified butter)

1) Heat ghee in a cooking vessel on medium heat and add cumin seeds and black gram and fry till the cumin splutters and the dal turns light brown. Add the coriander seeds, cinnamon stick, curry leaves and dry red chillis and fry further for another minute till the rawness disappears and the flavors come out. Finally add the roasted peanuts and combine with the other spices for a few seconds and turn off heat. Once cool, grind to a make a fine powder.
2) In the same vessel, add oil/ghee and once its hot, add mustard seeds and let them splutter. Add the curry leaves and let the flavor of the curry leaves come out and the leaves turn crisp.
3) Add the sliced capsicums and fry them for approx 3 minutes. Don?t over cook them, let the capsicums retain their crunchy texture. Add salt to taste and combine well.
4) Reduce heat and add the cooked rice and combine with the spice mixture.
5) Add the grated coconut,roasted peanuts and ground masala powder and combine with the rice till its well mixed.
6) Serve hot with any gravy curry of your choice or with just pickle, yogurt and appadam. Makes a complete meal!

Note:
This rice can be prepared using other vegetables like carrots, potatoes, gherkins, egg plants, bitter gourd etc. A lovely healthy rice dish, deliciously different, that goes with just about anything, or nothing at all! The peanuts really brings out the flavor, so don?t skip this step.