Veg Pulao & Raitaવેજ પુલાવ અને રાયતું
Fragrant basmati with vegetables and whole spices, served with cool raita. It gives you most of the pleasure of biryani for a fraction of the work.
Ingredients
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- 1½ cups basmati, soaked 20 minutes
- 1 cup vegetables (peas, carrot, cauliflower, beans)
- 1 onion, thinly sliced
- Cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, bay leaf, cumin
- 1 tsp ginger-garlic, 2 green chillies
- 3 tbsp ghee, salt, mint
- Raita: 1 cup yoghurt, cucumber, roasted cumin, salt
Method
- Crackle the whole spices in ghee and fry the onion until golden.
- Add ginger-garlic and chillies for a minute, then the vegetables for 3 minutes.
- Add the drained rice and toss gently for 2 minutes.
- Pour in 3 cups hot water with salt, bring to a boil, then cover and cook on low for 12-15 minutes.
- Rest 5 minutes, fluff with a fork and scatter mint over.
- Whisk the yoghurt with cucumber, roasted cumin and salt for the raita, and serve alongside.
Tips
- Soaking keeps the grains long and separate.
- Don't lift the lid while it cooks; the steam is doing the work.
Storing and reheating
Cooked rice spoils quickly in warm weather, so do not leave it out more than a couple of hours. It keeps two days in a shallow covered dish in the fridge. Reheat it by sprinkling over two spoons of water and steaming it covered, without stirring. Cucumber raita weeps as it sits, so it is better made fresh each time.
What you can swap
- No basmati? Sona masuri or any long grain rice works, but cut the water back: two and a half cups is enough for one and a half cups of rice.
- Without whole spices, add half a teaspoon of garam masala along with the cumin. The aroma is less deep but the flavour holds up.
- To avoid ghee, cook it in oil and stir a single spoon of ghee through at the end. That last spoon is where the whole difference lies.
- If cucumber raita is not your thing, make boondi, onion or grated bottle gourd raita instead. Bottle gourd raita is the lightest in summer.
What to serve with it
A simple complete meal: pulao, raita, papad and pickle. It is a long-standing choice for dinner or a lunch box in Gujarati homes, and when guests are coming and time is short, pulao and raita stand in for the full dal, rice, sabzi and rotli spread.
Mistakes to avoid
- Do not stir the rice once the water is in. The grains break and release starch, which turns the pulao sticky. Bring it to a boil once, then cover and leave it.
- Do not soak the rice longer than twenty minutes. Over-soaked grains break while cooking, and you then have to reduce the water as well.
- Do not cut the vegetables small. Keep the pieces chunky or they disintegrate into the rice within fifteen minutes.
- Do not salt the raita in advance. The cucumber lets go of its water and the raita turns thin, so season it just before serving.
Questions people ask
How much water for soaked basmati?
For basmati soaked twenty minutes, twice the volume of water to rice works well. If it has soaked more than an hour, one and a half times is enough, because the grains have already taken up water.
Why does my pulao turn sticky?
Three usual causes: too much water, stirring during cooking, or rice that was not drained properly after washing. If it does happen, uncover it and let the steam escape for five minutes, then separate the grains with a fork.
Can pulao be made in a pressure cooker?
Yes. Do the tempering and toss the rice the same way, then use one and a half times the water rather than double and cook for two whistles. Let the pressure drop on its own before opening, and fluff it with a fork.
