One thing I cannot do without - rice!! It may show itself on my person but the 'more roti less rice diet' is something I just cannot stick on to and every few months I slip and add a tyre or two!!
This time it is tomato pulav rather than thakkali chaadam. The pulav is more fluffy and drier than the South Indian thakkali chaadam. I like the latter too but this one works out a lot easier for me. The pulav is much easier as it a one pot meal - less washing, and no curry needed to give it company. A simple raita or potato chips suffices to complete the meal! How I make it depends on the available ingredients - I generally add all the standard pulav vegetables, but I love it more with just potatoes, peas and babycorn. Today I did not have babycorn or peas. I had mushrooms and spring onions with lots of green. The mushrooms were bought with manchurian in mind so I could not use them but the spring onion greens looked inviting and raring to go in the pulav - I am glad they did for they added a zest that other veggies cannot even compare with!
Here's today's version:
Ingredients:Rice (I use kolam rice, but basmati is generally the preferred one here) - 2 cups
Veggies:
Tomato puree - 2 cups
Veg. stock or water - 1 + 1/2 cups
Potato - 1 cut into long wedges
Onion - 1 sliced thin
Spring onion greens - 1/2 cup cut into 1" long pieces
Tomato - 1 big one sliced
Ginger - 1" stem julienned
Green Chillies - 1 slit longitudinally
Spices:
Jeera/Cumin seeds - 1 tsp.
Bay leaf - 1 small
Cinnamon bark - 1" long
Chhoti elaichi (Green cardamom) - 2, very slightly crushed
Black pepper - 5
Cloves - 2
Sunflower Oil - About 1+1/2 tbsp.
Method:
Wash rice, drain and set aside for about 1/2 an hour.
Heat oil, splutter cumin seeds and add the rest of the spices.
When the cloves splutter, add slit green chillies and ginger.
When the ginger turns pink add the sliced onions. Saute till they caramalize.
Next add rest of the veggies, stock/water and tomato puree. Add salt.
When the liquid boils add the drained rice.
Cook till the rice is just done. I cook in the pressure cooker for 5 minutes in sim after putting on the whistle, opening only after the cooker cools completely (after about 20 minutes). This way the rice gets perfectly done and not mushy.
The time taken depends on your cooker and the quality of rice.
Sometimes I add lots of baby corn and a little capsicum, but the spring onion greens do add an extra flavor!
