Moong Dal Ghee rice.

“Moong Dal Ghee rice” … My very own twist to ghee rice with the addition of moong dal. This mildly spiced moong dal – rice dish goes very well with any spicy Veg or Non.Veg Curry … Yummy …... 

This is a very simple rice cooked along with moong dal that goes well as an accompaniment to dal or any other spicy dish. The rice along with dal is prepared with mild flavouring of whole garam masalas. This dish is same as ghee rice I have included in the blog many times before but here I have added in moong dal and left out the raisins. Very easy and quick to prepare. The rice and moong dal when prepared should remain separate at the same time the dal needs to be cooked so use the pressure cooker pan for better results. Also be careful with the addition of water as with pressure cooker you always need a little bit of lesser water. Do check the quality of the rice too, sometimes if the rice is from new harvest they do become soggy. So do use good quality jeera or basmati rice for the dish. Also serve the rice with Spicy Veg or Non.Veg dish, it simply tastes great.

Ingredients :

Basmati Rice / Jeer Rice : 2 cups 

Onions : 2 large sized or 3 medium sized sliced lengthwise.

Moong dal : 1 cup

Cashew Nut pieces : 10-12

Jeera / Cumin Seeds : 1 tsp

Pepper Corns : 6-8

Cloves / Laung / Lavang : 5-6

Cinnamon Pieces / Tike saal : 2 pieces of 2 inches

Star Anise / Dagad phool : 2

Green Cardamom : 3 

Black Cardamom : 3

Jaivitri : few strands crushed

Bay leaves : 2 large or 3 small

Ghee : ½ cup

Salt to taste

Boiling Water : 5 cups

** Soak one cup of Basmati Rice in water for 30-40 minutes. Let drain in a colander till almost dry. 

** Wash ¾ cup of moong dal just before you start preparing the pulav and allow the water to get drained off properly. 

** Heat ghee in a thick bottomed pressure cooker pan, when the ghee melts and is hot enough, lower the heat to medium and add in the cashew nut pieces and fry till the colour changes slightly now add in one by one the whole garam masala ie Jeera, black pepper, cloves, cinnamon, Star anise, whole green cardamom slit, Black whole cardamom slit, jaivitri and the bay leaves. 

** Add in the sliced onions and stir fry on medium heat till the onions turn translucent. It will take about 2-3 minutes. Now add in the strained basmati rice and the strained moong dal. Add salt to taste and mix well, frying on low heat for one minute. 

** Now add in the boiling hot water to the above and mix well. Cover with the pressure cooker lid and pressure cook to 2 whistles on high heat and then lower the heat to low and pressure cook to one whistle. That’s it, remove from fire and keep aside and allow the pressure to fall on it own.

** Once the pressure is released, open the cooker lid gently. Stay away from the cooker pan as the steam may pass off on your hand, so do be careful. Once the lid is opened, do not touch the ghee rice. Let it cool for a good 5-8 minutes before you attempt to remove the pulav. 

**Whenever you use pressure cooker method for pulav / ghee rice / briyani follow this procedure, the steam blocked within the rice, should be cooled before you attempt at trying to spoon out therice. This is to avoid the rice from getting mushy if you try stirring the rice when too hot. Once it has cooled a lit bit, with the help of a fork separate it a little bit. 

** Moong Dal ~ Ghee Rice is ready to be served. Serve with any spicy curry of your choice accompanied with any other side dish. I served this with Shahi Palak Paneer and Besan Kadhi (as appetizer) and all the three dishes complimented each other well.