Vegetable Pulao

Ingredients:  

• Long grain rice – 2 Cups

• Ghee – 2 tablespoons 

• Salt – 1 tablespoon

• Ginger - garlic paste - 1.5 teaspoons

• Onion - 1 medium thinly sliced

• Thai Green chilis - 2 slit as needed

• Frozen mixed vegetables - 1 cup

• Potato - 1 small cubed

• Bay leaf - 1 

• Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon

• Green cardamoms - 4

• Cloves - 4

• Cinnamon stick - 2 inch

• Star anise - 1

• Strand mace (Javitri) - 1

• Nut meg - 1 pinch

• Fennel seeds - 0.5 teaspoons

This veg pulao is the most basic dish and made often in many indian households.  This pulao dish is made by cooking basmati rice with aromatic whole spices, vegetables and herbs.  It is a comfort food for many and is most commonly eaten for a meal.  Since this is a simplest of Indian dishes made with very little preparations, it is super easy and ridiculously easy to make even for a party when you have a crowd. 

In a bowl, take 2 cups of rice and rinse it 3 times with water.  Soak the rice for 30 minutes and set aside.  In a large pan, add 6-7 cups of water, add salt, and let it come to boil.  Once water is hot, add soaked rice.  Rice will finish cooking in about 10 minutes.  Once rice is fully cooked, drain the water from the rice.  Move rice to a different container.  Fluff the rice with a fork and cool completely. 

In a sauté pan, add ½ tablespoon of ghee and heat pan on medium flame.   Add whole spices to the ghee - bay leaf, cinnamon stick, cloves, star anise, cardamoms, whole cumin, nutmeg, strand mace (javitri).  When spices begin to sizzle, add thinly sliced onion.  And then add 1 or 2 slit green chilis.  Wehn onions are golden brown, add 1.5 teaspoons of ginger garlic paste.  Satue for 30-40 seconds until the raw smell of ginger garlic disappears.  Add mixed vegetables and chopped mint/cilantro.  Saute everything well until mint/cilantro smells good.  Usually takes about 2-3 minutes.   

Transfer this to the cooled rice and mix everything well.  Make sure rice is completely cooled.  Taste the vegetable pulao and serve warm with yogurt.