"Spicy Vegetable-Mint (Pudina) Pulav" served with "Kurle' Alle' Piyava Gashi (Crab Ginger-Onion Curry) and Cucumber Mint Raita (Salad)" ... Try this delicious spicy mint flavored pulav with added on veggies ... the aroma and taste is so overwhelming that I assure you, you will definitely crave for more of this delicious pulav in different combos … Yummilicious .....
** Spiced rice like Biryani, Pulav, Bhaath, Puliogere etc. are something I never tire off relishing anytime of the day. I must confess that I prepare it at least once in a week or 10 days. Though biryani is my favorite of all times, that I love to have with raita or curds I prepare more of pulavs as it is less tedious in preparation. It is easy and faster to cook and there is always some or the other curry at home that needs to be relished with too. Non Veg. curries often remain for the next day, as both hubby and me eat it only during lunch time and never repeat for dinner as it is not easy to digest if had twice a day. Lots of coriander leaves are available in market now, and in enthusiasm I bought a large bundle of the same along with a bundle of pudina / mint leaves too. After preparing my favorite chutney etc. there was still in excess, that unfortunately due to some unforeseen problem I could not use as I was time bound elsewhere. Now both the leaves had to be used up soon as possible or it would go waste, so decided to prepare this pulav which I had not prepared for nearly 2 decades.
** Yes, you read it right, a few decades back this was a common pulav in my home, but after shifting residence and becoming busy over office work, I never found mint leaves in bulk in my vicinity and going to purchase each and everything to main market proved to be hectic for me, so I always cooked whatever was available locally. Slowly over the years, I completely lost track of this pulav and except for a few times never prepared it with strong mint flavor as the one I used to prepare decades back. When I went through my old diaries, which you may remember I had mentioned, I found the recipe and have wanted to prepare it for some time now. Well, all ingredients required were there in my kitchen so after a long time prepared it and relished it to my heart content. As an accompaniment to this delicious pulav I prepared mint flavored cucumber raita too and of course the crab curry I had prepared the previous day was still remaining. In all it was an excellent meal, that hubby and me enjoyed a lot. Now, I am sure to prepare this more often and relish with different combos.
** Here is the Method of preparing "Vegetable-Mint Pulav” … My Style ......
** Soaking Rice : Wash and soak 2.5 cups of Jeera / Basmati rice in plenty of water for 30 minutes. Once it well soaked put it in a colander and rinse well and then keep it aside and allow all the excess water to get drained off complete. Keep this ready aside.
** Veggies : Peel of the skin and cut 1 medium sized carrot into cubes. Cut about 150 gms of cauliflower into small florets. Peel and keep ready about 150 gms of fresh green peas. Put all the three vegetables in a colander and rinse well under running water. Keep this drained and ready aside.
** Green Paste : Clean 2 cups of fresh coriander leaves and 1 cup of fresh mint leaves. Put them in mixer grinder along with 5-6 green chillies, 5-6 peeled garlic and 1 inch piece of ginger, juice of one freshly squeezed lemon and grind to a very fine paste with little bit of water. Keep this Coriander~Mint paste ready aside.
** Cooking Veggies : Bring 5 cups of water to boiling point and then add in the above veggies (carrots, peas and cauliflower) and let cook on low heat. The procedure of cooking veggies and other should be done simultaneously to avoid the vegetable being overcooked. The vegetables should be cooked to about only 80-90 % for best results.
** Making the Pulav : In a thick bottomed kadai add in about 4-5 tblsp of ghee, when hot add in 3 medium sized onions sliced lengthwise thinly and fry till slightly browned then add in 3-4 tej patta, 2 X 1” piece of cinnamon, 1 star (anise) and fry for a minute. Now add in ¼ tsp of haldi (turmeric) powder, 1 tblsp of Goda Masala, 1 tsp of kashmiri red chilly powder, ½ tsp of Coriander (dhania) powder, ¼ tsp Cumin (Jeera) powder, pinch of Fennel (badisep) powder and fry for another minute.
** Now add in the drained rice and mix well, fry for 2 minutes, lower the heat, cover and keep it for 1-2 minutes to raw cook. Open the lid, by now the veggies in the water must have cooked 85%. Pour the boiling water along with the veggies in it into the kadai and mix well. Add salt to taste and bring all to a good boiling point on high flame.
** Once it comes to full boil, lower the heat to minimum, cover with a tight lid, place a heavy weight or a bowl with water over the covered lid and let cook. When the rice is about 80% cooked mix in the prepared "Coriander-Mint Green Paste" and mix well. Cover again and cook on low heat until done. Remove and keep it aside and allow cooling for 5-10 minutes, undisturbed.
** "Vegetable-Mint Pulav" is done and ready to be served. This pulav tastes best when prepared spicy and served with raita or curds. You can also serve any vegetarian or non-vegetarian curry along with it as an accompaniment too. I served it with "Kurle' Alle' Piyava Gashi (Crab Ginger-Onion Curry) and Cucumber Mint Raita (Salad)" and it was an excellent combination, though a little bit spicy and will be loved by spiced rice lovers, so try it.
** Though I recommend preparing this pulav slightly spicier, you can cut down on spice level if you are not fond of spicy food or you have young children at home. The pulav tastes equally good with medium spice too, but just increase the amount of coriander leaves by ¼ cup to balance the strong mint flavor. Do try this out and relish with your family and friends. A unique combination of dishes that is sure to be a hit at get together, pot luck or family functions.
** Note : Addition of “Goda Masala” enhances the taste of dishes very much. This is a Maharashtrian Masala Powder prepared in every home in bulk to be stored all through the year and is used almost in every dish. It is freely available in stores and you can purchase the same too. It is close to Garam Masala except for the fact that there is the addition of few more spices added along. In any case if you do not have access to it, you can always use ordinary garam masala too.
** Note : You can include any other veggies of your choice too, like mushroom, corn kernels, French beans, beetroot etc. and they taste equally good. Again, you can keep it simple without any veggies and add on paneer or boiled egg or fish too. Well, I will soon post them all for you, so keep an eye on my blog for more yummier dishes and remember to give me a feedback by leaving a comment or you can mail me.
** For the “Kurle' Alle' Piyava Gashi (Crab Ginger-Onion Curry)” Recipe, follow the link given below …
** For the “Cucumber Mint Raita (Salad)” Recipe, follow the link given below ….
** You can use the search option for "Pulav" or go through the link provided below, where you will get many more combinations and different types of pulavs. Do try out various types of mix and match dishes to relish with your family and friends.
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Thank u for the awesome recipe Gayu..
ReplyDeleteLiked n finished in giffy by my ppl.
But I didn't add goda masala..
Thanks dear Vidya, you can replace it with ordinary garam masala too, but if possible do purchase it, it tastes great in dishes ...
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