Cooking for Avantika

 What we need  1/2 Cup Basmati Rice, washed 1 Tbsp Coconut oil  1 tsp jeera 1 tsp fennel 1 tsp Ama spice mix 1/2 a tsp homemade Biryani masala (optional)  2 pods of garlic 1 medium onion sliced thinly 1/2 a small capsicum sliced in fine strips A handful of French beans finely cut in tiny discs Less than 1/4 cup shelled fresh green peas or frozen. Paneer cubes.  Salt What we do: Heat coconut oil in a kadai. When it melts, tilt the Kadi to coat it all over. As it settles to the bottom, add jeera. As jeera sizzles and foams, add garlic slices followed by fennel seeds. Mix it then add onions. Let them sweat. Then add French beans and Ama spice mix. Mix it well and when the mixture seems drier and reduced in volume, add capsicum and cook it for some time. Add a pinch of salt followed by biryani masala if using and the washed rice. After mixing it well for some time, add 1 and 1/4 cup of water, salt, green peas. Let it boil on open for some time. Last add paneer piece...

 I know a few people who think French beans are tasty. But then, if your mom or your mom in law or whoever the lady of the household is, insists on cooking it with onions and tomatoes or potatoes or other vegetables like carrots and lots of spices, you can hardly blame people for having negative feelings towards some of the most beautiful green vegetables. Like green beans. I guess Spring must be here for I am psychologically starting my love affair with green vegetables.  This morning, as Avantika enjoyed one of her favorite breakfast items, I boiled a Potato and wondered about the color change in the water. Avantika's favorite breakfast item is a store brought crossaint that is technically not a crossaint but a piece of yeasted bread shaped like a crossaint and though it has the flavor of some fat that imitates butter, it lacks the richness of butter - it is fine, it's convenient and probably tasty too, probably just perfect for the lifestyle and environment she lives in. Bu...