Simple Gajar / Carrot Pulav.

"Simple Gajar / Carrot Pulav" .... Carrots are very good for health ..... Addition of grated carrots to the Pulav is one of the surest and best way to introduce them into daily diet of youngsters who are reluctant to eat them for reasons of their own ..... This is what I suggested to my worried frd. whose kid used to remove all the veggies from dishes and keep them aside ...... LOL ... After all he won't sit to pick the grated carrots ..... Problem Solved .... Mummy bhi Khush .... Baccha Party bhi Khush ..... Enjoy ......

This is a simple Pulav no different from the regular one’s. The ingredients are all the same. The only twist is addition of grated gajar / carrot. Children are very fusy nowadays. Not that we in our childhood weren't. But we were scared to refuse or keep aside a dish if we did not like it. One look at Mom was enough to make us gulp down our food without a murmur. This is not to say that they did not care in fact they cared more than anything. Those days the families were large and it was simply not possible all the time to cater to everybody’s demand. But she saw to it that there was something or the other dish of every person’s favorite laid down on table at lunch / dinner time. But throwing tantrums was an absolute NO-NO. My mother insisted that we eat everything. If we did not like something we would eat a little bit but we had to eat. But today, the children will just pick it up and keep it aside and just wont relent. My friends Dr. suggested that her child be given carrots for improvement of eyesight / vision. The child hated it and would pick it from pulav or bhaji and keep it aside. She was simply exasperated and there was always a tug war between the two. Finally she would just get hyper. I just suggested why don’t you grate it and add to the pulav he wont have the patience to pick it up would he ? She was not convinced, It was like what if he did not eat the whole thing. Well, I said No harm in trying. The child loved pulav’s, so the next day she prepared my recipe of gajar / carrot pulav and laid it before him. The child looked at the Mother in dismay. I was there, he looked at me and said does anybody cook pulav this way. I looked straight into his face and said. Yes, this is an international cook’s method. It’s the in thing now with children. The child was impressed, ate it without a murmur to our amusement. Kids are simply beautiful, its just that we have to learn to get round them. 

Ingredients : 

Basmati / Jeera Rice : 2 Cups.

Vegetables: 

2 onions sliced lengthwise thinly

3-4 medium sized carrots grated 

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

Haldi / Turmeric powder : 1 tsp

Salt to taste.

Ghee : ½ cup

Wash and soak rice for about 20 mins. Wash again, drain in a colander and keep it aside ready. Wash and keep the green peas ready too.

Peel of the skin of 3-4 medium sized carrots. Say about 250 gms. Grate them and keep them aside ready. Peel of the skin of the onions and slice them lengthwise as thinly as possible. Keep this along with the grated carrots aside ready.

Bring 4 cups of water to a boil and keep it simmering ready aside. Now in a thick bottomed pan, add in the ½ cup of ghee. When hot, lower the heat and add in Jeera, Pepper, Cloves, Green Cardamoms, Black Cardamoms, Crushed Jaivitri, Star anise, Bay leaves and fry for a few minutes. 

Now add in the sliced onions and fry till translucent / slightly pinkish. Then add in the haldi powder and grated carrots and mix well. Sprinkle some hot water and fry for a few minutes. Now add in the drained rice and mix well. Add in the boiling water with salt to taste.

Mix all well and bring to a boil for 3-4 minutes. Now lower the heat to minimum and cover with a tight lid. Let cook till 70% done. Remove the lid, mix well and again cover and cook till done. Once done remove from heat and keep aside for 5-10 minutes. 

Open and allow the heat to pass away, wait for few minutes, for the accumulated 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 pulav with the help of a large fork. You can garnish with finey chopped coriander leaves. I have not as this is an exclusive gajar / carrot pulav. Serve this pulav hot with any spicy curry. Tastes simply yumz.