Satvik Spicy Masala Vegetable Pulav.

No Onion Garlic Spicy Masala Vegetable Pulav With Radish Raita And Ginger Lime Juice ....... Dedicating to all my Friends who love to have Pulav even on festive days ...... this pulav is without onion or garlic .... so go ahead and enjoy this during Ratha Saptami ......

No Onion Garlic Spicy Masala Vegetable Pulav is a very satvik type of pulav with no onion, garlic or ginger added to it. You can call this a sort of Jain Pulav. I prepare this spiced pulav specially during a event / occasion where I do not want to add garlic or onions to the pulav. However if you add them the taste will definitely be more awesome as I have prepared the same before with a different combinations. I prepared this pulav today during Ratha Saptami festival day ie Mangalore Car Festival (Kodial Teru). This festival marks the marriage of Lord Venkatarama with Goddess Laxmi. The festival is celerbrated during Magh Month (February as per English Calender) for 5 + 1 days with the 6 th day celerbrated as Holi / Vokkula. We have always enjoyed this festival in childhood as I belong to Mangalore and relished the sweets and savories that mom prepared for the festival. We had lots of relatives and guest who would come over for the festival. Non Veg and curry with garlic and onions were avoided during these days. So here is a No Onion Garlic Vegetable Pulav prepared with lots of spices only. I served this with Radish Raita to which again I have not added any onions and seasoned with Mustard and Hing Tadka and added a few roasted peanuts. An wholesome and awesome lunch / dinner in all. Do prepare this dish and leave a feed back. 

Ingredients : 

Basmati / Jeera Rice – 3 cups.

Vegetables: 

Green Peas : 4 cups (shelled)

Cauliflower florets : 3 cups (cut medium sized)

Carrot : 3 cups (cut to cubed of medium size)

Beans : 2 cups (cut into 1” length pieces)

Spices :

Jeera – 2 tsp

Cinnamon – 2” length 4-5 pieces.

Pepper – ½ - 1 tsp

Cloves – 1 tsp

Green Cardamoms – 4-5

Black Cardamoms – 5-6

Crushed Jaivitri – ¼ tsp

Star anise – 1 – 2

Bay leaves – 2-3

Cashew Nuts : ½ cup.

Masala Powders :

Haldi Powder – 1 tblsp

Garam Masala Powder – 1 tblsp

Coriander Powder – 1 tblsp.

Jeera Powder – 1 tsp.

Fennel (Badisep) Powder – 1 tsp.

Kashmiri Red Chilly Powder – 1 tblsp (as per your taste)

Salt to taste.

Ghee : 1 cup

Soak 4 cups of Jeera Rice / Basmati Rice in plenty of water for 30 minutes. Wash well and drain on a colander. Keep this ready. Wash all the vegetables (green peas, cauliflower, carrot and beans) and allow to drain in a colander. Boil 8 cups of water in a thick stainless steel vessel. When it comes to full boil, lower heat to medium and add in all the vegetables that are washed and drained. Cook till 70% done and keep this ready.

Now in a thick bottomed large sized kadai, add in the 1 cup of ghee. When hot, lower the heat and add in the cashews and fry both till light brown in colour, now add Jeera, Pepper, Green Cardamoms, Black Cardamoms, Crushed Jaivitri, Star anise, Bay leaves – 2-3 and fry for a few minutes. Now add in all the masala powders ie. Haldi Powder, Garam Masala Powder, Coriander Powder, Jeera Powder, Fennel (Badisep) Powder, Kashmiri Red Chilly Powder and fry for a few minutes. Sprinkle some hot water if you find that the masalas are getting burnt or sticking to the bottom of the kadai.

Now add in the drained rice and mix well. Add the boiling water along with the vegetables that are cooked in it. Cook on high heat till the pulav comes to boiling point. Add salt to taste and let cook on high for 3-4 minutes. Lower the heat to minimum, cover the kadai with a tight fitting lid and cook on slow heat till done. In between just mix the pulav once to get uniformed spiced pulav. Once the water has evaporated and the rice is cooked. Remove and keep covered aside for about 15 minutes. Remove and garnish with coriander leaves if desired. Serve this pulav hot with Dal-Fry or any Raita. I served this pulav with simple Radish Raita with Peanuts.