Mango Rice Chana Dal Pulav.

"Sunset Spicy Pulav" ..... Is the Name I have given this dish as I remember the colours of Sunset on Beach Side while seeing this Yummy Pulav ........ I have made it with Ripe Mango (Alphonso) + Chana Dal ....

A little bit different sort of pulav. It’s spicy at the same time has the sweet taste of Mango too. Come summer and there are lots of Alphonso mangoes available in India. A simple yet classic pulav that can be had just as it without any accompaniment. But then a little bit of raita, or chutney / gojju goes well with it as some people find only pulav too dry to have it as it is. 

Wash and soak 2 cups of basmati / jeera rice in plenty of water for 30 minutes. Wash well again and drain in a colander. 

Wash and soak 1 cup of chana dal for 10-15 minutes and drain off all the excess water.

Peel of the skin of 3 large sized onions and slice them lengthwise as thinly as possible. Take half portion of the sliced onions, apply a tablespoon of any edible oil and mix well and micro wave till brown as crispy. Leave this aside for garnishing. You can deep fry the same if you do not want to microwave. 

Peel off the skin of 3 ripe Alphonso Mangoes. Cut the fleshly portion of one maongo into cubes and keep aside to garnish while serving. Squeeze out the fleshly portion of the rest and put it in a mixer and grind to a smooth paste. Do not add water. Remove and keep this aside ready. 

Now in a pressure cooker heat 2-3 tsp of ghee, when hot and it has melted add 1 tsp of haldi powder and then add in the drained rice and chana dal. Mix well on low heat and fry it for 3-4 minutes. Add in 5 cups of water, salt to taste and cover the lid off the pressure cooker. Pressure cook on high heat to 2-3 whistles and remove from fire. Let the pressure drop on its own and once it has cooled down remove the lid and leave the rice and chana dal to cool a bit. Be careful as the steam will pass off and may hurt you. Also do not mix or stire the rice and chana dal as you may mash it. Once it has cooled down it will remain as separate grains the way we need it to make this pulav.

Heat 4-5 tblsp of ghee in a deep thick bottomed pan, when hot add in ½ cup of cashews and fry till light brown immediately add in 1 tsp jeera, 1 tsp of pepper, 10-12 cloves, 3-4 green cardamom slit, 5-6 black cardamom slit, 2 tej patta, 4 X 1” piece of cinnamon, pinch of jaivitri, 1 star (anise), few curry leaves and fry well. Add in the remaining onions sliced finely lengthwise and fry till translucent. 

Once the onions turn pinkish in colour add in the mango puree and mix well. Add a little bit of salt to taste. Do not add more as we have already added the same while cooking rice-chana dal. Mix well and bring to a boil on medium heat, stirring often to avoid the puree getting burnt.

Add in the cooked rice-chana dal and mix well. Lower the heat and cover the pan with a tight lid and let cook for 5-10 minutes or till you find that the mango mixture has mixed in well with the rice-chana dal mixture and there is no excess liquid portion in the pulav.

Remove and garnish with the browned onions and the fresh mango pieces. 

Serve immediately with raita or plain curds and some tomato gojju or chutney. You can add your own choice of accompaniment to the pulav. However, do not serve this pulav with any curry as it tastes best with something light as a side dish.