Spicy Tomato Capsicum Pulav With Rice And Moong Dal.

Spicy Tomato Capsicum Pulav With Rice And Moong Dal ........ Yummy ...... Tastes great with the awesome taste of blended tomatoes ...... A Jatpat Pulav prepared in pressure cooker .....

This spicy dish came about just in a spur of the moment. It was quite a long time since I prepared my favourite dish Tomato Bhaat …. It is the fav. Of my family with lots of garlic. I was just wondering what twist I could give to the same when I had some members of society drop in for routine query. Once they left it was quite late, so wanted to do something really fast. Wonder why this always happens with me ? Always hard pressed for time with so many commitments. Sigh …. But that is life and I enjoy being busy. Now the delima was between tomato bhaat and khichidi which was a faster option for dinner. Then an idea cropped up and though why not? Yes why not make a combination of the both and that is how this recipe was born. And it tasted so yummy that I should now think of more options on this combination. The recipe is simple and fast to make so go ahead and enjoy this one pot meal whenever you are short of time, yet want to eat something spicy.

Ingredients : 

Basmati / Jeera Rice : 1.5 Cups.

Moong Dal : 1 cup

Vegetables: 

Tomatoes : 3 + 3 medium sized.

Capsicum : 3 large or 6 small one's.

Spices :

Jeera : 2 tsp

Cinnamon : 2” length 4-5 pieces.

Pepper : ½ tsp

Cloves : 1 tsp

Green Cardamoms : 4-5

Black Cardamoms : 5-6

Crushed Jaivitri : ¼ tsp

Star anise : 1 – 2

Bay leaves : 2-3

Curry Leaves : 8-10

Cashew Nuts : ½ cup.

Masala Powders :

Haldi / Turmeric Powder : 1 tsp

Garam Masala Powder : 1 tsp

Coriander Powder : 2 tsp.

Jeera Powder : 1 tsp.

Fennel (Badisep) Powder : 1 tsp.

Kashmiri Red Chilly Powder : 3 tblsp (as per your taste)

Salt to taste.

Ghee : 1 cup.

Water : 4 cups.

** Wash and soak rice and moong dal together for about 15 mins. Wash again, drain in a colander and keep it aside ready.

Chop the capsicums into medium sized cubes. Put it in a microwave safe bowl, cover and cook on high for 3 minutes. Keep this ready aside. If you do not want to use MW method, you can cook them in a pan with little bit water or you can put them directly along with other ingredients in the pressure cooker. I have followed the MW method coz. here for pulav I used pressure cooker to fasten the process and capsicum tend to get mashed in this method. You may choose whichever method you prefer. 

Wash and chop 3 tomatoes into medium sized cubes and keep them aside. Similarly chop the other 3 tomatoes and grind them to a smooth puree in a mixer grinder. You may use ½ cup of readily available tomato puree or ¼ cup of tomato ketchup too. I use it if there are no tomatoes in my fridge. Keep them ready.

Now in a pressure cooker pan, 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, Cury Leaves 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. Now add in the chopped tomatoes and the tomato puree and mix well for a few minutes. 

Now add in the drained rice ~ moong dal and mix well. Add 4 cups of water and salt to taste. Mix all well and cover the pressure cooker with its lid. Lower the heat to medium and let cook to 4-5 whistles. Let the pressure from the cooker drop on its own. Do not apply force or try opening the lid in between using any other method lest the moong dal will not get cooked properly. 

Once you are able to remove the lid, wait still for 5 minutes and then open the lid. Leave uncovered for 5-10 minutes for the excess heat to pass away. This will see to it that when you mix the pulav does not mash up. Now just mix the pulav once to get uniformed spiced pulav with the help of a large fork. Gently add in the cooked and kept capsicums and mix overall. You may garnish with coriander leaves if desired, I did not as it was not available at home. Serve this pulav hot with any raita or plain curds. Tastes simply yumz.