Popu Annam–Andhra style tempered rice | TummyKhush

Left over rice – oh how we wish we could keep finding new recipes to make proper use of left over stuff. Unexpected guests at home and a little miscalculation of quantity resulted in left over rice. And then a phone call to mom-in-law later, I was in possession of a new recipe to make good use of left over rice. This recipe is unique to the Telangana region in Andhra Pradesh. It hardly takes any time to make and you would see that everything will be gobbled down in a few minutes. The recipe here is a little similar to Aloo-Jeera rice but trust me, the taste is completely different. Simply put “Popu” means tempering and telugu and “annam” is rice.

Here is what you would need to make this life saver:

Cooked left over rice – 1 cup
Onion – 1 medium sized finely chopped
Pototo – 1 medium sized finely chopped
Salt – to taste

For the tempering:

Cooking oil – 3 tbsp (Need a little more oil than normal coz the potatoes have to cook)
Bengal gram dal/senaga pappu/chana dal –1/2 tsp
Urad dal/minappa pappu –1/2  tsp
Mustard seeds/ avalu : 1/4 tsp
Cumin seeds/jeera : 3/4 tsp
Dry red chillies : 1-2 (broken)
Hing/asafetida : a pinch
Green chillies : 1-2 finely chopped
Curry leaves: a few
Turmeric : a pinch
Ginger garlic paste – 1/4 tsp (optional)

Cumin seed powder/dhania powder – 1/2 tsp
Chopped coriander: for garnishing

Heat oil in a non-stick pan or a kadhai.

Add the dals and when they start browning add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds and allow to fry. When the cumin seeds start spluttering, add the red chillies and allow to fry. Add a pinch of hing and fry for a few more seconds. Now add the green chillies, ginger garlic paste and turmeric and continue stirring.

Add the green chillies, curry leaves, onions and potatoes and continue to fry. Add a little salt to this mixture, lower the heat, close the pan with a lid and continue to cook. The salt that is added will allow the natural moisture content to ooze out of the veggies and help them cook better. Keep checking the veggies in between. If you feel that the potatoes are not cooking well, you can splash a little water, cover and continue to cook.

Once you feel that everything has cooked well together, add the dhania powder and allow to cook for half a minute. Check seasoning. More salt can be added at this stage.

Now add the left over rice to the pan and mix well till all the mixture and the rice mix well and come together.

Sprinkle a little water if needed, cover and cook for a few minutes. This will help all the flavours come together. You can check the seasoning again at this stage and add more salt if needed.

Just before turning off the heat, add chopped coriander and a little chilli powder (optional). Mix well. Serve hot with left over curries or rasam and papad or simply with some pickle and curd. Enjoy.