What can be more enticing than different varieties of spiced rice to a South Indian like me? The picture of this rice dish caught my eye as I was flipping through Hari Nayaks’s cook book “My Indian Kitchen.” I love black-eyed peas and the recipe seemed very quick and simple. I used frozen black-eyed peas that I always keep in the freezer to make curries or salads. I love crunchy fried onions. I could just live on rice forever. This is now my new favorite rice variety and I am so happy to be able to share it with you. I highly recommend purchasing Hari’s new cook book and look through all the pictures. His recipes are very simple, quick to make, and intensely flavorful. Just stop by in a Barnes and Noble and flip through his cook book. It is great for the beginning cook or an accomplished chef. It has something in it for everybody. My children loved this dish very much and I find myself making it for lunch pretty often. My husband likes it with raita, curry, chips, and a simple salad.

I like to spice up this curry with generous amounts of green chilies. I have used black-eyed peas quite a bit, but never thought of using it in a rice dish. After making this dish I was very happy to have found another creative way of using these nutrition filled beans. Hari recommends that the beans be soaked, but the frozen peas work just as well too. I wanted to make sure that my pictures do justice to Hari’s wonderful recipe but I run low on patience as all I want to do is gobble up the food than take pictures of it. It’s really tough to be a food blogger, the food is simply too inviting!

I purchased Hari Nayak’s cook book from Barnes and Noble and have been cooking a lot from it. I have made a lot more of his dishes but did not blog about it. The food was really too good for me to wait and take pictures. Hari has been very generous in letting me share some of his recipes from his latest cook book with my readers. This book is ideal for busy people. I called up Hari and told him how valuable this book would have been to me as a newly married bride. I would have handled the kitchen with more confidence if I just had this in my hands at that time. I have enjoyed every single recipe I have made from this precious book. The wine pairings are great. My husband loves it when I serve the dish with the right kind of wine. He loves to sip and savor the wine along with his meal.

Lobhiya Pulao from Hari Nayak’s “My Indian Kitchen.”

Prep time: 20 minutes plus 5 hours for soaking beans and 40 minutes for rice

Cook time: 40 minutes

Serves 4

• 1 cup (150 g) black-eyed peas (lobhiya)
• 1¼ cups (260 g) basmati rice
• 3 tablespoons oil
• 2 onions (about ¾ lb/350 g), thinly sliced
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• One 1-in (2.5 cm) piece fresh ginger, peeled and crushed
• ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon Asian chili powder or cayenne pepper
• 1 tomato (about 1/3 lb/150 g), chopped
• 1 teaspoon
• 4 cups (1 liter) water
• 1 tablespoon ghee (clarified butter) or oil
• 2 green cardamom pods
• 4 whole cloves

One 1-in (2.5-cm) cinnamon stick

1 teaspoon Home-Style Garam Masala

1. Soak the beans in cold water for at least 5 hours or overnight.

2. Soak the rice for 30 to 40 minutes. Carefully pour out the soaking water and wash the rice in several changes of water, until the water runs clear. Leave it to drain in a fine-meshed strainer for about 15 minutes.

3. Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat. When hot, add the sliced onions and fry until brown and crisp, stirring frequently. Remove them with a slotted spoon, leaving as much of the oil in the pan as possible, and spread them out on a paper towel to drain. Set aside for garnish.

4. To the same pan that you fried the onions, add the garlic and ginger and sauté for 30 seconds over medium heat. Add the turmeric, cumin, coriander, Asian chili powder or cayenne pepper and tomato and cook until the oil separates from the masala, about 1 minute. Add the drained beans, salt, and water and cook, covered, until the beans are tender, about 30 to 40 minutes. Set aside. Do not drain the water.

5. In a heavy-bottomed pan, heat the ghee or oil over medium heat. Add the cardamom, cloves, and cinnamon stick and cook for a few seconds. Add the drained rice and sauté for about 1 minute, stirring gently so as not to break the rice grains.

6. Add the beans and their cooking liquid and bring to a boil. Add the Home-Style Garam Masala and reduce the heat to low. Cook, covered, until the water is evaporated and the rice is cooked, about 5 minutes. Stir once and garnish with the fried onions.