Methi-vegetable Pulao

Of late, i have been crazily participating in almost every food event held in blogosphere.It’s very hard for me to resist any event and the moment some event is announced ,my mind gets restless thinking about what could be my possible entry for that.The big challenge for me ,obviously is that the particular recipe should be fit for the event and should be a part of Sindhi cuisine too, to justify my blog name

So when Archana of Archana’s kitchen announced Monthly One dish meal event I kept scratching my head too long to come out with some idea.And after lots of thought processes i finally thought of this Pulao which could fit the bill,and that too just on nick of the time(today is the last day for participating, i guess)

Methi-vegetable Pulao:

Ingredients:

• Rice 1 cup
• Fenugreek leaves(a handful if fresh or 2 tspn if dried kasoori methi is used)
• Ginger garlic paste 2 tspn
• Onion 1
• Vegetables like cauliflower,french beans,potato, carrots,peas,paneer(any /all of them)
• salt
• Turmeric powder 1/4 tspn
• Green chillies 2-3
• Tomato( optional) 1
• Garam masala power 1/2 tspn
• Oil 2-3 tspn
• Butter(optonal) 1/2 tspn
• Milk(optional) 1 cup

Method:

• Rinse the rice few times and soak in water for about 15-20 min(you can use basmati or any other variety)
• Now you can make this pulao in pressure cooker which makes the whole process very easy,or you can cook it in handi or vessel you normally use to cook rice
• If using pressure cooker,saute the chopped vegetables(excluding peas and paneer) in some oil for about 2 minutes
• Then take them out and place aside
• Now in same pressure cooker(or vessel) add ginger garlic paste(or pounded ginger garlic) and saute it till slight change in colour
• Add chopped methi(fenugreek) leaves or kasoori methi and saute it for some more time
• Add sliced onion and saute it till slight colour change(pinkish)
• You can add tomato at this stage or you can escape using tomato
• Now add rice,vegetables ,peas(if using) , chopped green chillies,salt,turmeric powder,garam masala powder,and mix well
• Add water just above the level of rice,if using pressure cooker,or else use water double the quantity of rice ,if cooking in a vessel
• Close the lid of cooker and wait for two whistles(in case of vessel,cook the rice till almost cooked)
• Now comes an optional step,you can completely escape it if you don’t want to add calories in this recipe
• Take some butter in small frying pan(or in the vessel you normally use for tadka) ,let it melt,then add about a cup of milk and wait till it boils
• Add this mixture to the almost cooked pulao,and if using paneer,add fried paneer cubes now,mix carefully and cook the pulao on DUM..i.e keep a griddle on stove top,lower the flame to the minimum and keep the vessel/cooker containing pulao on top of that griddle,and let it absorb the flavor of milk and butter …say about 2-3 minutes
• Garnish it with coriander leaves and serve piping hot with papad or achar(pickle)/curd /dal/vegetable