Tawa Pulao

Happy Diwali and Happy New Year to my readers! Wishing you all another year of love, happiness, good health and lots of wealth!

So diwali kept me busy.. With cleaning, shopping, helping mom with diwali snacks and sweets! And I did not really make anything worth posting. And some times I was busy eating out! Haha! Once I made green cabbage soup, but it was not so great! I will try it with some herbs next time.

I made an adapted version of Tawa Pulao from here. A simple and quick recipe with lots of spiciness. A good alternative to the regular pulao that goes well with plain youghurt/curd to balance the hotness.

So here it is:

Serves: 2-3 Preparation Time: 5-10 mins. Cooking Time: 10 mins

Ingredients:

1 cup rice, raw, washed
2 tomatoes, roughly quartered
5-6 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbsp ginger paste/crushed/grated
2-3 kashmiri red chillies, soaked in hot water for ½ hr at least
1 medium sized onion, finely chopped (½ cup)
3 tbsp green capsicum, finely chopped
3 tbsp carrots, finely chopped
2 -3 tbsp peas
1 tsp red chilli powder (optional)
1 tbsp pav bhaji masala
1 tbsp cumin seeds/jeera
2-3 tbsp oil
salt as per taste

For Garnish
Freshly chopped Coriander

Method:

1. Thoroughly wash the rice and boil with peas, adequate water and salt till the grains are separate and 90% cooked.

2. Simultaneously chop the veggies - carrots, onions, capsicum. Crush the garlic and grate the ginger.

3. Next, take the red chillies (discard soaked water) and tomatoes and blend it into a smooth puree.

4. In a pan, heat oil and add jeera. Once it crackles, add onions and sauté till soft.

5. Now add garlic and ginger and cook for another minute. Then add the carrots and capsicum and cook for about 2 mins.

6. The rice which should be done by now should be strained and left aside.

7. We now add in the purée to this mix. Also add salt, pav bhaji masala and red chilli powder. Let this mixture cook until it is dry and the oil starts separating. This will take about 5-6 mins.

8. Now simply toss in the rice with fork and garnish with coriander.

Our spicy Tawa Pulao is ready to eat with some cool yoghurt!

Notes & Tips:

1. It is ok if you do not have enough time for soaking the red chillies.

2. My Tawa Pulao turned out to be rather spicy than my usual taste (oops!) so you can skip the red chilli powder entirely if you want it less spicy.

3. We do not cook the vegetables entirely so that they lend a slight crunchiness by the time Tawa Pulao is ready.

4. For Jains:
Follow Step 1 and 2 as above skipping onions and garlic.
Heat oil, add jeera and bay leaf. Next, add ginger and some finely chopped cabbage (3 tbsp) instead.
Sauté for about 1 min and add the vegetables and cook for 2 mins.
Follow as it is step 6 onwards.

Enjoy!

PS: The pics are from my mobile.. My camera is travelling! ;)