How to turn leftover rice into a three course meal

Hailing from a Bangladeshi family, rice has always been an inseparable part of our cuisine. No matter how much we love the fancy western food at fine dining restaurants, we all crave a hearty homemade rice meal at the end of the day. 

As a result, we often end up having some leftover cooked rice in our fridge and throwing out the food is never an option. So most of us just reheat the leftover rice and have it the most obvious way - with a curry.

But have you ever wondered how you could turn a regular bowl of leftover rice into an entirely new and delicious dish? From appetizers to desserts, here are three amazing ways to use up leftover rice.

1. Cheesy Rice Balls or Arancini

Starting with an appetizer, arancini is a famous Italian dish that you can make with cooked rice from the night before. The cheese-stuffed rice balls are absolutely tongue-pleasing. 

Usually served with warm marinara sauce, this crunchy dish will impress your guests for sure. 

Ingredients 
2 cups cooked rice
1 finely diced onion 
1 clove minced garlic 
1 tbsp green bell pepper
1 tbsp red bell pepper
Some finely chopped coriander
2 eggs
½ tsp chilli flakes
½ cup all-purpose flour or maida
1 cup breadcrumbs
1 cup shredded mozzarella
Vegetable oil
Salt and black pepper to taste 

Instructions

Take out your leftover rice from the fridge and put it in a bowl. Add the onions, bell peppers, garlic, coriander, chilly flakes, black pepper, salt and half of the breadcrumbs; save the rest for later. 

In the mixture, add the hero of the dish - mozzarella cheese. Then add an egg to bind everything together and hold the whole mixture. Mix well. 

At this stage, keep a bowl of water beside you and take a spoonful of the rice mixture. Wet your hands in the water and make a medium-sized rice ball with your hands. Make sure to dip your hands back into the water before making another ball. This will prevent the rice from sticking to your hands. Repeat the process until you have no mixture left.

Once done, pour the maida and bread crumbs into separate bowls. Crack the remaining egg. Now put a rice ball in the maida, dip it in the beaten egg and roll in the breadcrumbs to give it a nice coating. Repeat the process for all the balls. 

Now put the pan on the stove and pour as much oil as is required to deep-fry the rice balls. They need to be fried on medium heat until the balls turn a beautiful golden colour. 
Serve the cheesy balls hot with a side of marinara sauce. 

2. Thai Mango Fried Rice 

What is the best thing about summer according to you? Well, for me, the answer is mangoes. The sweetness from the ripe mangoes and the tangy flavour from the greens make the sweltering summer worth it. 

What could be better than having a main dish made with mangoes? Mango fried rice is widely popular in Asian cuisine, more specifically in Thailand and Malaysia.
 
Leftover rice is universally the preferable way to make fried rice. You can use leftover polao rice from the family dinner the night before for the best results. However, any rice will work fine.

Ingredients
4 to 5 cups of cooked rice
½ finely chopped onion
3 cloves minced garlic
1 tbsp sliced ginger
Few cashew nuts (optional)
¼ cup red bell pepper
¼ cup yellow bell pepper
Diced mushrooms
Sliced baby corn
1 cup ripe mango, cut into cubes
1 cup protein of your choice, shredded chicken or prawn
Green chilli
2 tbsp cilantro or coriander
1 tsp sugar
Salt to taste
Chilli flakes as needed
2 tbsp soy sauce
Sriracha sauce as needed
Black pepper powder to taste
1 tbsp chopped up lemongrass stalk
Vegetable oil as needed

Instructions

Pour oil in a pan and remember to always keep the flame medium-high while making fried rice. 

Saute the onions, green chili, ginger, lemongrass and garlic until fragrant. 

Add the chicken or prawn and cook for a while. Then add the nuts and cook some more. When the meat turns a beautiful golden colour, add in the mangoes and all the veggies. You can use whatever vegetable you love. 

Always cook your veggies in high heat to keep their colours intact. Saute for three minutes to get that crunch. 

Add sugar, salt, chilli flakes, black pepper and give a good mix. Now add in the cooked rice. Make sure that the rice gets well mixed with the protein and veggies. 

Add the soy sauce once the rice is evenly mixed with everything. If you like your fried rice spicy, like me, add some sriracha sauce for a spicy kick. 

Toss the rice for a minute and serve it hot on a plate. Garnish it with spring onions or cilantro. Your Thai mango fried rice is ready to be enjoyed. 

3. Baked Rice Pudding

After a cheesy appetizer and a hearty main course comes the dessert. Without satisfying your sweet tooth, the meal stays incomplete. 

Known as 'Payesh' in Bengali, rice pudding is a dessert we all grew up eating and associate many of our childhood memories with. 

This recipe for cinnamon-vanilla baked rice pudding, a swetern take on our favourite payesh, is a great way to use up the last remaining bits of rice lying in the fridge.

Ingredients
2 cups full cream milk
1 cup leftover rice
2 eggs
¼ cup sugar
½ tsp cinnamon powder
½ tsp vanilla essence
Nuts and raisins to garnish

Instructions

Pour milk into a saucepan. Heat up the milk on low heat and add in the rice. Keep stirring to keep the milk from burning and simmer on low. Meanwhile, preheat your oven at 350 F.
In a large bowl, crack the eggs, add sugar, cinnamon powder, vanilla essence, nuts, raisins and mix well. Now, pour a spoonful of the rice and milk mixture into the eggs and stir well. 

Once combined, pour the egg mixture into the saucepan and keep stirring continuously to prevent the eggs from scrambling. 

Once the eggs are well-combined into the rice mixture, cook for three to four minutes on low heat. Once it gets thick and creamy, pour it onto a baking tray and bake for around 1.5 hours in the preheated oven. The pudding will turn a gorgeous golden colour once done. 

Let the pudding cool for a while before serving and your simplest baked rice pudding made with leftover rice is done.