Mixed Vegetable Paella

Paella is rice based dish with its origins in Spain specifically Valencia. Its made out of a special short and roundish rice in a flat pan and Paella means exactly that pan rice. The dish has a lovely olive oil flavour, I first eat it in a Spanish food festival that I attended somewhere a seafood and a veg paella both were served and I fell in love with both, so I scooted around the net for the recipe and started my own attempt of making it. But what I couldn’t find is the paella rice here so I went ahead and used the normal sona masuri rice though on second thoughts I think the kerala red rice would be good for this too

Recipe – Mixed Vegetable Paella

What I used

• 1 cup short grain rice (I used sona masuri)
• 1 tsp butter
• 1 small red capsicum cut in thin strips
• 1 medium green capsicum cut in thin strips
• 2 medium tomatoes chopped
• 1/4 cup green peas
• 2 baby corns sliced
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 star anise
• 1 medium onion sliced
• 3 garlic cloves sliced
• 2 tsp paella spice mix (which is traditionally a mix of paprika and yellow color, I used turmeric instead of yellow color)
• 2 1/2 cups of vegetable stock
• salt to taste

How I made it

• Heat butter in a microwave safe pan in a microwave safe flat pan and add the strips of green and red capsicums to it. Cook on HIGH for about 2 minutes, add a pinch of salt and put in the microwave for 1 minute again. Keep aside the capsicum
• Heat olive oil in a large pan again, add the bayleaf, star anise and chopped garlic microwave on MED for about 4 minutes
• Add the onions and microwave on HIGH for about 3 minutes
• Add the tomatoes and the sautéed capsicum, peas and corn to it and microwave on MED for another 5 minutes
• At this stage add the spice mix, salt, rice the vegetable stock. Mix well and cook for about 15 minutes till fully done

Serve hot