Pulav is a complete one pot dish loved by rice lovers. It is an elegant complete meal in itself and very nutritious because of all the vegetables in it.
Pulav was not a common dish at our place 20 years ago. People here prefer rice and gravies to these dishes. I started making different types of pulavs at my home because my husband and kids loved these. There are still many houses where pulavs are never prepared, though they are becoming part of functions these days. One of the reasons for this may be, basmati rice is very expensive compared to normal rice.
I got this recipe from a book when I was newly married and moved to my new home. Over the years I have made a few changes to the original recipe. The version I have posted below is something I have been following for many years now. It is very simple and gets ready very quickly. Everyone at home loves this dish. I serve this with a simple raita – (tomatoes, onions, green chillies, coriander leaves mixed with yogurt).
Ingredients: 1 cup basmati rice 2 cups vegetables – green beans, carrot, fresh peas, potato, cauliflower 1/2 cup onion Ghee Coriander leaves and tomato slices for decoration Salt
To be ground to a paste: 1 tea spn ginger pieces 1 tea spn garlic pieces 1 tea spn chilli powder 1 tea spn coriander seeds
Method: Soak the rice in water for about ten minutes. Drain the water and spread the rice on a paper towel for drying. Cut the vegetables into small cubes. Heat the ghee in a vessel and fry the onions for three minutes. Add the paste and fry for 3 – 4 minutes. Add the rice and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add vegetables, salt and enough water to cook(about 2 and half cups). Cover the vessel and cook on a medium heat till the water is absorbed and rice and vegetables are cooked. Decorate with tomato slices and coriander leaves. Serve hot.
Serves : 2-3 Preparation time : 25mins
I love dals with lemon juice. Latha’s lemon rasam has been a great hit at my home. We also love dali thoy with some lemon juice on top. I want to slowly increase the usage of lemon and decrease tamarind and tomato in my cooking. Lets see how that goes.
This dal is inspired by Sanjeev Kapoor’s Dal bahar recipe that I had seen few years ago on TV. I replaced toor dal with masoor dal (the red colored split masoor dal ) since I wanted some change from “friendly neighborhood dal ” – toor dal . We both love the taste of this dal. It is very mild but very tasty. It is one of those, which you go on and on and on eating even after your rice is done :).
In the above picture, you cannot actually see any other vegetables except drum sticks. Wonder where they disappeared, I blame it on gravity. They must have sunk to the bottom :).
Sending this to EC’s AFAM lemon .
Ingredients: 2/3 cup toor dal or masoor dal 1 cup vegetables – green beans, carrots, drum sticks, cauliflower (I use avrekaLu also) 1/4 cup onions(optional) 1/2 tea spn mustard seeds 1/2 tea spn cumin seeds 5-6 curry leaves 1 tea spn fresh ginger-garlic paste 4 green chillies 1/2 tea spn chilli powder ( I didn’t use this ) A pinch turmeric 3-4 strands coriander leaves 1 tbl spn lemon juice Oil Salt
Method: Soak dal in water for about 30mins. Heat oil and add mustard seeds. When they start popping, add cumin seeds. Add curry leaves, green chilies, ginger garlic paste, onions. Fry till the onions turn brownish. Then add turmeric powder, chilli powder, salt, dal , vegetables and cook till done(this can be cooked in pressure cooker to save time). Add coriander leaves, lemon juice. Cook for few minutes. Serve hot with rice.
Serves : 3-4 Preparation time : 30mins
