Thursday, January 1, 2015

Vegetable pulao


Vegetable Pulao is a very flavorful and easy to prepare one pot meal. Mixed vegetables are cooked with rice and flavored with aromatic spices. Its very nutritious and also acts as a great lunch box option.
There are so many different versions of Vegetable Pulao. I myself make 3-4 different types of Vegetable pulao. Today I will be sharing with you  my mum's recipe . This was the first type of pulao I learnt to make. Later I started playing with the ingredients and came up with other versions of this dish. Personally for me, this will always be the most favorite version of this dish:) Serve this hot VEGETABLE PULAO with cold raita and you will have a perfect meal on the dinner table..



INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 cups Basmati rice
  • 2 cups sliced onions
  • 4 tbsp oil
  • 2 bayleaf
  • 6 cashews
  • 3 cups mixed vegetables (vegetables of choice could be carrots, green beans, peas, corn, cauliflower, edamame beans etc. In this case, I have used frozen mixed vegetables)
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric powder / haldi
  • Salt as per taste
  • 1 tbsp ghee / clarified butter (optional)
Dry Masala :
  • 12 black peppercorns
  • 1 inch cinnamon
  • 6 cloves
  • 2 green cardamom
To be ground into a paste:
  • 10 black peppercorn
  • 6 cashews
  • 1/2 inch cinnamon
  • 2 green cardamom
  • 3 green chilli (adjust according to taste)
  • 3 garlic
  • 1 inch ginger (cut them into thin slices)
  • 1/4 cup cilantro
  • 1 tsp oil
Note: All measurements are based on the US measuring cup and spoon sizes where 1 cup = 235 ml

PROCEDURE:

  • Wash the rice 3-4 times and soak it in water for a good 30 minutes. Later, drain and set it aside.
  • Take the ingredients under the "Dry Masala" section and make a powder out of them using a dry grinder.

  • Heat 1 tsp oil in a small pan. When hot, add the ingredients under the "To be ground into a paste" section and saute them. Once done, set it aside to cool. Later,grind them into a thick paste.


  • Heat 4 tbsp oil in a thick bottomed pan. When hot , add bay leaf and the cashews. Once the cashews get fried, add the powdered dry masalas and saute for a bit.

  • Add in the sliced onions and the ground masala and saute the mixture until the onions turn translucent.

  • Add the chopped mixed vegetables and turmeric powder.Cook them covered in medium heat for 5 minutes.

  • While the veggies are cooking, bring 4 cups of water to boil in a separate pot.
  • Add the drained rice to the veggies and add the boiling water. Add salt and give it a mix. Once the water comes to a boil, reduce the heat and cook covered until most of the moisture has evaporated.

  • When most of the moisture has evaporated, switch off the heat. The rice will continue to cook with the residual heat. Continue to keep the rice covered for about 15-20 minutes.Later, open the lid and slightly fluff the rice using a fork. Drizzle 1 tbsp melted ghee/clarified butter over the Pulao.

  • Serve this delicious vegetable pulao with the raita of your choice.

Note:
  • Amount of water to be used depends on the quality of rice. So adjust accordingly.
  • As you can see, I have added cashews in the beginning. If you wish, you can separately fry the cashews in ghee and add them to the prepared Pulao in the end. Personally, I do not like to mix the rice too much after it gets cooked because then the grains tend to break.
  • Also, if you have noticed in the procedure above, I added the raw rice, then water and then mixed. Raw Rice (since it has been soaked) can break easily. So give just one mix only after adding the water.
  • Cut the veggies into small pieces or thin stripes. That way they will cook early.

HAPPY COOKING!!!



15 comments:

  1. I love this time of one complete dish. Its packed with lots of flavors and love the stylish presentation.

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  2. exciting recipe - I ought to try this Shubha ! i can sense the aroma of all the beautiful spices from here - delicious

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  3. Pulao is making me hungry.. I like the variations - adding the powdered spices and grounded paste masala.Nice and best is its a one pot meal...

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    1. Ty so much Jeena, its my go to option when i am pressed for time:)

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  4. Hello Shubha,
    Good Evening dear, your veg pulao recipe is excellent combination of spices, vegetables and rice. You know the USP of this pulao is the spices you have added, the wet paste and use of kaju in wet masala paste, best is use of home made dry spices. This truly a must try recipe of pulao. Loved it.

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    1. Ty so much deepa..yes this recipe is dear to me..as i have grown up eating it..seen mum make it:) even if i try others, this will continue to be my fav..as love of my mum is associated with it:)

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    2. Yes, I agree with you, mom made food is always very very special, and best I observed that your recipes are unique, with great cooking knowledge and use of ingredient in a way, which tranform any dish into very delicious and tempting dish.

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    3. Thank dear Deepa, your encouraging words mean alot to me:)

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  5. It looks so delicious dear. Very nice and healthy recipe. Very nice presentation too. :)

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  6. Love your version..will give it a try....check out my version too...

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  7. Thank you for the update, very nice site.. verdura mista

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