Even my mother, superlative in the kitchen, decades of judicious planning for family meals or catering generously for parties behind her, finds it hard to judge how much rice must be cooked. Two cups? Three cups? More? Whether you use the absorption method or the draining method, the cleaning, washing, soaking, draining process necessitates erring on the side of excess. And so, in all households, there is almost always a bowl of yesterday’s rice sitting in the fridge. Trouble is, stale rice is stale rice: even if you microwave it, blanch it in boiling water or ‘re-steam it’ using a steamer and a damp cloth under the lid, it fails to rouse any enthusiasm. So invariably, new rice will be cooked and the cycle continues.
Now I see some of you thrifty, clever cooks saying, nonsense, you can make fried rice, lemon rice, curd rice, even sushi… All of it is true! My husband takes day-old rice, throws in chopped tomatoes, cumin, coriander, rye seeds and curry leaves, sprinkles turmeric over it and packs the kids’ tiffins.
These come back home, emptied with obvious enthusiasm. But sometimes, it’s nice to be able to reinvent leftovers in such a way that they bear little resemblance to yesterday’s avatar. So here are a couple of such reinventions (and our standard curd-rice recipe because we just made it for lunch and it inspired this week’s column).

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When we ran away from Mumbai to Bengaluru for a brief spell, we spent our first month there ordering take-out. The food was delicious but we were always flabbergasted by the amount of rice that would tumble out of the tender banana leaves. The first time, I think we even considered checking with the restaurant to see if they’d sent us three times the amount we needed. Nope. This was a standard portion. So we learned to both warn the restaurant staff to send us a fraction of the usual rice-plate and we learned to make this super simple curd-rice with what was left in the fridge.

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked rice
2 Kashmiri chillies
4 tbs urad dal
20 fresh curry leaves
4 tbs grated ginger
2 tbs rye seeds
1 cup yoghurt (or more)
2 fresh green chillies
Pinch of asafetida
1 tomato chopped
Salt to taste
Handful of fresh coriander leaves for garnish

Method:
De-seed the red chillies and crush them. Chop the green chillies. Put about 3 tbs of oil in a heavy bottomed pan and on medium heat, fry the urad dal until it begins to turn golden. (Be warned, newbies, the first time I did this, I burnt the urad dal in a matter of seconds.) As it begins to colour, throw in the chillies, rye seeds, ginger and curry leaves and stir gently around. The aroma, yes, will be delicious. Add a pinch of asafoetida. Throw in the rice and stir it around to make sure it is coated in the spices and oil. Then add the yoghurt and stir until it is hot. Throw in the tomatoes and immediately turn off the heat. Stir in the coriander. Taste for salt and serve hot with some papad and a nice spicy pickle on the side.

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‘Cream’ of
vegetable soup
This delicious soup is made even more special with lots of freshly cracked pepper and generous bundles of fresh herbs. The rice thickens it beautifully and it’s a filling meal. You could try tweaking it by throwing in sliced mushrooms, bok choi, adding a pinch of miso, a dash of soy sauce to give it a ‘Japanese’ accent. It’ll make a simple side to a roast meat or a healthy snack.

Ingredients:
2 cups of chopped veggies
(broccoli, zucchini, beans, peas…)
Large bunch of fresh herbs
(thyme, rosemary, oregano)
1 bunch of parsley
1 clove garlic
½ cup cooked white rice
2 cups stock or hot water
1 onion finely minced
1 bay leaf
Salt to taste
Method:
Saute the onion and garlic in a pan with a teaspoon of butter or olive oil. When it turns transparent, throw in your chopped vegetables and stock and bay leaf and bring it to a boil, then reduce to simmer. Add the rice and the fresh herbs. If using basil or parsley, then add the stalks now and save the leaves for when you turn the heat off. Cook until the vegetables are very soft. Then spoon the veggies out (discard the bay leaf), puree the vegetable mass and add it back to the stock in the pot. Strain and serve immediately with a garnish of herbs, parmesan and pepper.

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Red Rice with Chorizo
and Tomato Juice
Unhusked, fat, broken grains of red or brown rice, the rice from Goa and Mangalore, Kerala and now, packaged organic red rice wrestle the delicate, lily-white basmati to the ground in terms of taste when it comes to robust preparations. They add incredible flavour and texture to coconut based curries, strongly spiced pulaos and of course, spicy meat. I used to boil a huge amount of red rice on the weekend and use handfuls of it to add to salads or toss with tuna, olive oil, avocado or throw into miso soup. This recipe is quick, festive and fun. You can ‘moisten’ it by cooking the tomato juice further and serving it on the side as a sauce.

Ingredients:
*2 cups old rice (the drier the better)
**200 gms spicy chorizo
1 cup corn niblets
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp whole cumin seeds
1 cup packaged tomato juice
½ cup fresh herbs — preferably oregano/marjoram/rosemary
(or 2 tbs dried herbs)
1 chopped tomato
2 cloves garlic
1 red onion
*Of course, you can just use fresh rice. In which case, cook the rice (and the corn niblets) in equal parts tomato juice and water.
**If you can’t get chorizo, Goan sausage will do nicely — it’s best to boil the sausage separately till it’s done and then proceed with the recipe as usual.

Method:
Bring the tomato juice to a boil, add a pinch of salt and boil the corn niblets in it until they’re tender. Drain the corn but put the tomato juice back into the pan on low. Let it reduce gently (add a clove of chopped garlic, some chopped tomato and some fresh herbs to make it snazzy). Chop the garlic, onion and roughly tear up the spices. Slice the chorizo into ½ cm slices. In a saucepan or large frying pan, heat up 1 tsp of olive oil. Throw in the sliced chorizo and cook until the fat begins to leave the sausage. Sprinkle the sugar and give it a few brisk turns until the sausage is cooked. Remove the sausage and drain all but 1 tbs fat from the pan. Into this fat, throw your herbs, garlic and onion and sauté until the onion is lightly brown. Throw in the cumin. When it starts to crackle, toss the chopped tomato into the pan and stir around until the tomato softens. Put the sausage back into the pan and then tip in your rice and corn. Toss everything briskly. Garnish with some more fresh herbs and serve with your simmered tomato sauce on the side.

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Arancini
Every culture must have a way of recycling old rice. The Japanese have ‘omusubi’ — balls of rice encasing some fish are then rolled in toasted, crushed black sesame seeds. They are absolutely delicious and gorgeous to look at — the white rice, the black/grey sesame seeds. This recipe — arancini means oranges — is apparently a Sicilian street food staple. The legend goes that in the arancino lies the history of the island: the saffron scented rice is reminiscent of the Arabs, the ragu from the French, the tomatoes from the Spanish and the cheese, at the heart of it, is usually a fresh cheese available only in Sicily. You don’t have to use meat — you can use a mix of vegetables. There are complicated ways to make arancini and easy ways. This is, of course, the easy way.

Ingredients:
3 cups cooked rice
2 eggs
250 gms mincemeat
2 cloves of garlic
200 ml tomato puree or 8 tomatoes
200 gms peas
½ cup grated parmesan
½ cup red wine (optional)
100 gms cubed mozzarella or grated cheddar
1 tbs rosemary
Fresh pepper
Salt to taste
2 cups breadcrumbs
Enough oil to deep fry

Method:
Fork through the cooked rice and add the grated parmesan. Mix until evenly distributed. Gently smash the rice with your fingers. Crush and chop the garlic. Shell the peas. In a saucepan, using 2 tbs olive oil, quickly brown the mincemeat. Add the garlic, rosemary, tomato puree, wine and pepper. Stir around, taste for salt. Add the peas and let it cook on a low simmer until the peas are tender. (If using frozen peas, wait till the mince is cooked and then add the peas or everything will get super mushy.) You want a dry-ish meat sauce. Leave it to cool. Now beat the eggs with a little salt and leave in a bowl. Empty half the bread crumbs into a large plate. In your left hand take about 2 tbs of rice, smash it down. Place about 1 or 2 tsps of the mince and peas. Place a cube of cheese in the centre of this. Then take some more rice and cover this. (It will take a little practice.) Roll into a ball, gently and firmly, about the size of a tennis ball. When all are done, roll them in egg and then breadcrumbs. Put oil in a wok. When hot enough (see tip) put each arancino in, not too many, at a time and fry until they are golden. Drain and serve with a salad or as a snack.