Vadhela Bhaat na Rasiya Muthiya – leftover rice in yet another splendid avatar

It feels so good to be back here, after  a long and unplanned hiatus from blogging. I had not anticipated  our relocation  from Singapore to Ahmedabad  to derail my work for such a long time. After my arrival into Ahmedabad, our family got caught in the tsunami of  Covid second  wave. We had a long road to recovery but are doing fine now. Kitchen was not a place I wanted to be after testing negative as the lack of energy and the notorious heat of Amdavadi summer drained me within 30 minutes. Like most we were not stepping out of the house hence, food had to be frugal, simple and nourishing.  We cooked meals with whatever was on hand. The ingredients had to be stretched a little further and leftovers were camouflaged to create next meal.   The  Bhaat na Rasiya Muthiya recipe shared here is one that ticked all of those boxes. The starchy leftover rice is cleverly turned into muthiya that go on to leisurely float  into  sour yogurt rasa/curry. Hence the name Rasiya Muthiya.  It is a go to recipe for most of us especially the Jains. Pinky, who has been sharing many of her family recipes on this blog always talked about her favourite Rasiya Muthiya and I was itching to share it here. I requested her to share the recipe, video and memories around this dish. And as she shares, 

“I grew up in a Jain family, my mum would follow all the Jain principles in the kitchen so no leftovers would be kept overnight in the house. If there is leftover rice, it would have to be used by evening. She used every leftover ingredient very cleverly and made meals out if it, nothing would go waste. Rasiya muthia is one such meal she would make using leftover rice and very few staple ingredients like yogurt, spices, flour. Since there are no vegetables or greens in the recipe, this made a great choice for the five Thithi days  when vegetables and greens are  forbidden. The five Tithi most Jains observe are Ashtami and Chaturdashi of Krishna  and Shukla paksh ( 8th and 14th days of  waning  and waxing moon)  Panchami of Shukla paksh (fifth day of waxing moon). Meals would be kept simple on those days, mostly Kathols (pulses) or yogurt and Besan based curries like Gutta curry or things made out of rice like this Rasiya Muthiya or Bhaat na Shekla.

Growing up, this was on the menu at least twice a month, paired with Bhakhri but I always enjoyed them on it’s own like a comforting bowl of soup on a cold day.  When she was visiting me last, I managed to get a detailed recipe from her with little tips and tricks to make them softer

Here is the video recipe for  Bhaat na Rasiya Muthiya. This recipe is my personal favorite and it takes me back to my childhood every time I make it. 

Left over, mushy rice works well for this  recipe but if you are required to make fresh rice just for the recipe let it  cool down completely before proceeding with the cook.”