Vegetable Pulao

Today I am sharing a simple and basic vegetable pulao recipe that is perfect to go with lunch-box and is also a good one pot meal option. Make a nice gravy to serve along with this and it will be a perfect comforting food. Pulao is typically milder than biryani and the flavor comes mainly from adding all the whole dry spices. Add a touch of ghee/clarified butter and even your neighbors will know what’s cooking in your kitchen 🙂

I make several versions of pulao. Sometimes I make with paneer and soy chunks, sometimes I use mint leaves and peas. Today, I prepared using kasoori methi/dry fenugreek leaves and the flavor and aroma was fabulous!! The kasoori methi gave it a very typical and subtle flavor that went perfect with the dry spices added to it.

Ingredients:

Basmati rice – 1 cup (soaked in 2 cups water for 30mins)

Potato/aloo – 1 medium (diced)

Carrot – 1/4 cup (cut into slightly thick and long pieces)

Beetroot – 1/4 cup (cut into slightly thick and long pieces)

Green beans – 1/4 cup (Cut into small pieces)

Green peas/mutter – ¼ cup

Onion – ¼ cup (finely chopped)

Ginger-garlic paste – 1 tbsp

Green chilli – 2-3 (slit lengthwise)

Dry fenugreek leaves/kasoori methi – 2 tbsp

Curd/buttermilk – 2 tbsp

Red chilli powder – 1 tsp

Coriander powder – ½ tsp (optional)

Jeera/cumin powder – ½ tsp (optional)

Cloves – 5

Peppercorns – 8

Cumin seeds/jeera – 1 tbsp

Bay leaf – 3

Star anise – 2

Mace/javitri – 2

Cinnamon – ½ inch piece

Green cardamom – 3

Black cardamom -1

Salt – to taste

Oil – 1 tsp

Procedure:

1. Heat oil in a pan. Add cloves, jeera, bay leaf, star anise, mace, cinnamon, peppercorns, cardamoms and fry for 2 minutes till a nice aroma comes.
2. Add the green chili, ginger-garlic paste and onions. Fry till onions become soft.
3. Add the kasoori methi leaves, red chili powder, coriander-cumin powder and give a gentle mix.
4. Add the vegetables and give a good stir.
5. Add the drained basmati rice (do not discard the water, we will use the same water for cooking the rice) and with a gentle hand combine well. Fry for 2-3 minutes.
6. Transfer them to a bowl good enough to pressure cook the rice. If using rice cooker, you may do all the cooking directly in the rice cooker.
7. Add the drained water obtained from soaking the basmati rice, salt to taste and curd.
8. Pressure cook for about 4-5 whistles. Remove from heat and let it rest for about 15 minutes.
9. Remove and serve with any nice gravy.

Note:

1. You may use mint leaves instead of kasoori methi but I strongly recommend kasoori methi as the flavor was simply superb 🙂 Use mint along with it if you prefer to.
2. You may add some garam masala powder if you want a slightly spicy pulao.
3. You may also add paneer, soy chunks, fried bread and any other vegetables.
4. Add a tsp of ghee to get a very rich flavor.

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