‘Sunday’ for all is a day of relaxation and feasting. Well at least for the men, I guess, as the women of the house have to be on their toes doing the laundry, dusting, seeing to that children eat a little extra on holidays and also ensuring, that the husband, gets the best meal served piping hot on a lazy Sunday.
No! I am not complaining. Women do complain at the very beginning but then ultimately we enjoy doing what we do. My joy knows no bounds when I see my family enjoying the sumptuous and tasty meal that I prepared with its main and essential ingredient being ‘Love’.
So this Sunday the special meal consisted of coconut milk pulao, pepper chicken, raita and papad. On weekends my hubby prefers to have rice for any one of the meals. I enjoy making the different varieties of ‘Pulao’. It gives you a wonderful opportunity to experiment with rice and other ingredients; also the veggies add to the nutritional value of the meal.
Pulaos have a long and fascinating history. It runs down to the16th century, where in ‘Ain-e-Akbari’, there is a mention of Keema Pulao and it is evident, from the writings of a British traveller Sir Thomas Herbert, that there was a bewildering variety of Pulaos back then. In 1638, he went on to say “The feast begins; it was compounded of a hundred sorts of pelos (read pulaos)……”
The varieties of pulaos have been a part of the Indian cuisine since time immemorial. Right from the royal kitchens of the Mughals till today in every home the dish pulao excites the maker and the eater!
Enjoy my version of the coconut milk pulao…
Ingredients
- 1 inch ginger piece
- 6-8 garlic cloves
- 14-15 green chillies
(Grind the above three ingredients together to a paste)
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 2 cups basmati rice
- 2 medium size carrots chopped
- 2-3 medium sized capsicums chopped
- ¼ cup green peas
- 1-2 cinnamon sticks
- 2 cloves
- 2-3 big cardamoms(bada elaichi)
- 1 -2 onions finely sliced(for garnish)
- 7-8 stems coriander leaves
- Salt to taste
- 10 tsps oil or butter
Method:
- Clean and soak the rice in hot water for 10-15 minutes.
- Heat the cooking oil in a vessel, add the cinnamon sticks,big cardamoms and cloves. Stir and add the vegetables (except peas) and fry for sometime.
- Add the masala paste, salt and fry for some more time.
- Add green peas and coriander leaves and fry.
- Now pour the coconut milk and 2 cups of water. (Rice and water should be 1:1 ½ proportions). Let this mixture boil nicely.
- Finally add the rice and cover it. Make the flame low and keep for 20 minutes.
- Open and mix the cooked pulao gently.
- Garnish with few fresh coriander leaves and fried onions.
Preparation Time: 45 minutes
Serves : 4
Note: If all veggies not available use any two vegetables, I have used peas and capsicum.