Trying to recreate a bought-in recipe

In the past I have bought packets of various quick-cook "rice-and-things" for emergency use. My two favourites have been Oriental Rice and Lentils, and Rice and Fruit. The latter is easy to recreate - not the same but similar enough and good.

The former has always been a bit of a problem to me as it requires enough cumin for flavour, but any more than just enough is

However, instead of adding what I thought was needed at the start, I cooked up a load of green lentils and rice in my rice cooker without any seasoning and then chucked the lot into a huge bowl, and slowly slowly added more and more cumin, had a taste - then added some garlic, had a taste - added some salt, had a taste - and I think that I have finally succeeded.

Good thing it freezes [and defrosts] well, as I ended up wivva nawful lotta really tasty side dishes!

Success. Good for you. I like to cook in bulk and freeze dishes too. I call it lazy, my friend says organised.

One thing I tried to recreate was spicy parsnip soup. The tins are lovely but my whole pan full went down the drain. It was far too sweet and however much I tried to spice it up got worse. Pity because I love making soup.