423: Navratan Pulao-Cooked rice and vegetables mildly flavored with spices

 

Navratan Pulao

Rice plays an important role in the Indian cuisine. This  Navratan Pulao is a very popular recipe. This recipe attempts to bring the exotic authentic Nawabi cuisine to your table. . This Mughlai recipe is my favorite one. It is very colorful and attractive and also it tastes great and superb.

Preparation Time                      10 Minutes

Cooking Time                           20-30 Minutes

Difficulty                                  Average

Ingredients:

Long grain White Basmati          2 cups

Butter / Ghee                           2 Tbsp.

Finely chopped Paneer               2 Tbsp.

Saffron                                    2 Pinches     

Salt                                         To Taste.

Ginger paste                            1 Tsp.

Water                                      2 ½ cups- 3 cups

Vegetables:

Green Peas                               ½ cup

Peeled and diced  Carrot            ½ cup

Diced Green Capsicum               ½ no

Diced Yellow Capsicum               ½ no

Diced Red capsicum                   ½ no

Chopped  Green Beans              ¼ cup

Spices

Bay leaves                                 2 no. 

Fennel seeds  (Sombhu)             ½ Tsp,.                                                                 

Cinnamon stick                          1 no.

 Crushed Cloves                         4 no

  Crushed Green Cardamom        4 no

 Crushed Black Cardamom          1 no.

 Crushed Black Pepper               1/2 Tsp.

Nuts

Cashew nuts                              1 Tbsp

Roasted& chopped almonds         1 Tbsp

Raisins                                      1 Tbsp      

For Decoration:

Finely chopped Mint Leaves         2 Tbsp.

Finely chopped Cilantro leaves     1 Tbsp.

How to make Navratan Pulao:

• Wash and soak the rice in water for 30 minutes. Drain and set aside. 
• Meanwhile gently crush the saffron strands and soak them in a tablespoon of warm milk. 
• Now heat the butter / Ghee in a pan, once hot, add the Fennel seeds and once they crackle, add all other spices.
• Once the spices turn a light brown, add the ginger paste fry for a minute. stirring continuously. Lower the stove heat now.
•  Add the prepared vegetables to the pan and cook them at high heat for 2-4 minutes till all the water evaporate, while tossing them frequently.
• Now add the rice and cook while constantly tossing and stirring for about 3 minutes. All the water will have evaporated by this time and the rice and the vegetables should be coated with the spice mix and start looking dry.
• Add the salt, the saffron and 3 cups of warm water; stir everything together, and let it cook at medium to high heat for about 8 minutes or until all the water from the top has evaporated.
• Make sure your rice don’t get overcooked. When rice is cooled enough, carefully fluff with fork or spatula to separate them.
• Now heat 1 tsp of ghee in  a pan, fry all the nuts and add to the pulao/
• Now decorated with Mint and Coriander leaves.
• Serve Hot with  salads and Raitha.

Note:

• Alternatively, you may do the sauteing part in a frying pan and transfer the contents to an electric rice cooker to make your Pulao.
• The amount of water mentioned here is for Royal  Basmathi rice. The quantity may vary depending on the quality of the rice and the age of the rice.

Navratan Pulao

•