Now, this is a comfort food for me. It brings back fond childhood memories of Ema making chak angouba for our school tiffin. Morning was always rush-hour during school days – Ema hurrying to get the food ready for us to eat before the school van/auto came; how we hurried about checking the time-table to pack the school bag; waiting for the last moment to get report cards signed by Baba…Somehow, it takes me down memory lane.

It is so easy to make and yet, so filling -emotionally and otherwise. i like making this with left over rice.  So, the next time you have rice left over and wonder/despair what to do with it, well, go ahead and make chak angouba – literally translated, it means fried rice; chak=rice, angouba = fried.

Chak angouba

Things you need:

Cooked rice – as per your requirement

Mixed vegetables (i used frozen mixed vegetables which had carrot, peas, corn and cauliflower. You could put potato too)

Whole cumin – 1 teaspoon

Turmeric – 1/2 teaspoon

Coriander powder – 1/2 teaspoon

Chopped green chillies – 2

Salt to taste

Oil

2 eggs

1 small onion – thinly sliced

The method:

Heat the oil in a wok. When hot, put in the cumin seeds. When they start sputtering, add the sliced onions. When the onion go limp, add the turmeric and coriander powder. Fry for a minute or two. Add the mixed vegetables. Season with salt and cook till done. Now add the cooked rice and mix well. Oh yes, add the chopped chillies as well. Check the seasoning – you might need to add some more salt for the rice.

In a separate pan, heat a little oil. When hot, break the eggs into it (now, this is my laziness kicking in. You could whisk the eggs in a bowl with a little salt. Imagine a cook who is too lazy to do even that- well, that would be me!). Sprinkle some salt over the eggs and with a wooden spoon (wooden because i was using a non-stick pan), stir slowly. When cooked, add this to the fried rice and mix well. The egg is optional, of course. Serve hot.

Rajma eromba

This is another slightly off-beat eromba with rajma, french beans and tomato. Though i had been slightly sceptical when my husband suggested the combination, i was completely converted when i tasted it. It is surprisingly very tasty. If you look at the picture, you could be forgiven for thinking it is rajma curry!

As for the recipe, it is similar to the recipe here. Just substitute potato with about a cup soaked rajma beans. If you get fresh rajma beans, you could use that.