Tehri Pulao is to Uttar Pradesh what Bisibele bhath is to Karnataka and Rajma Chawal to Punjab. It is a simple, easy to prepare and fragrant one pot meal which can be served with or without a raita. Today I decided to serve it with plain curd and some pickle.

Ingredients:

250 gms Basmati rice washed and soaked for fifteen minutes.

One large carrot cut lengthwise

12 bite sized Cauliflower florets

2 large potatoes chopped into chunks

A large fistful of peas.

In short, all the vegetables should be equal in quantity.

2 onions sliced

10 garlic cloves grated

1 inch piece of ginger grated

4 green chillies slit

1 tbsp coriander powder

1 tsp Kashmiri chilly powder

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

5 cloves

1 inch piece of cinnamon

1 tsp saunf/ fennel seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

2 cardamom

4 tbsps oil

2 tbsps Ghee

Salt

Method:

Heat a pan. Add the ghee and oil to it. Once it heats up drop in the cloves, cinnamon, fennel seeds, cumin and cardamom. Give a quick stir and add the grated ginger and garlic. Drop in the slit green chillies and toss on a gentle flame for half a minute. Add the sliced onions and roast till translucent. Drop in the potatoes, carrot and peas and season with salt. Toss on a gentle flame for three to four minutes. Add the cauliflower florets, toss and pour in 500 ml of water. Bring to a boil. Add the drained Basmati rice and mix gently. Cover and allow to simmer for about four minutes. Switch off the gas and cover it with a tight fitting lid. The rice and vegetables get cooked in the heat. Allow to stand undisturbed for twenty minutes. Gently fork the rice onto a serving dish and serve hot.

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Copyright © 2022 by Vinaya Prabhu. All rights reserved.

An extremely easy to make, delicious one pot meal, the Brinjal Pulav is ready in just half an hour. Serve it with some chilled raita or some sliced onions and a wedge of lemon. Wash it down with a glass of buttermilk… Divine!

Ingredients:

250 gms Basmati rice washed and soaked for twenty minutes.

250 gms Eggplant/ Brinjal/ aubergine cut into quarters leaving the stem intact

2 large onions sliced

1 large potato peeled and cut into fingers

1 tomato chopped fine

2 inch piece ginger

9 cloves of garlic

1 tbsp Everest Biryani Masala

1 tbsp chilly powder

1/4 tsp Turmeric powder

1 heaped tsp cumin powder

1 tbsp coriander powder

Salt

3 tbsps Ghee/ clarified butter

5 tbsps oil

Half a cup of curds

300 ml boiling water

Method:

Drain the Basmati rice and keep aside. Make a paste of ginger and garlic. Heat the oil and ghee mixture in a pan. Drop in the brinjal and saute for a few minutes. Remove and keep aside. Drop in the potato wedges and saute them too for a couple of minutes. Keep these too aside. Drop the sliced onions and ginger garlic paste into the ghee oil mixture. Saute till the onions turn translucent and the raw smell of the ginger garlic disappears. Add the Biryani masala, turmeric, chilly, coriander and cumin powder and roast on a gentle flame for a couple of minutes. Add the tomatoes and keep roasting. Whisk the curds and drop it inside this mixture. Within a couple of minutes the oil starts separating. Immediately add the drained rice and mix well. Pour in the boiling water, the eggplant, potatoes and salt. Bring to a boil, lower heat and allow the Pulav to on an extremely gentle flame. It is ready in exactly ten minutes. Check for salt and serve hot with a mixed veg raita.

Copyright © 2022 by Vinaya Prabhu. All rights reserved.

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This fragrant vegetable Biryani will leave your guests asking for more.. It is a complete meal by itself and one can serve it with a raita of one’s choice. I usually serve it with a Burhani raita.

Ingredients:

12 medium sized florettes of cauliflower

1 large potato chopped into cubes

2 medium sized carrots chopped into chunks

25 French beans chopped into one inch size pieces

200 gms paneer chopped into cubes

100 gms or one bowl of peas

1 cup thick curds

1 tbsp Coriander powder

1 tbsp Kashmiri red chilly powder

1/4 tsp Turmeric powder

1/4 tsp Shah jeera

7 cardamoms and a piece of mace powdered together

A few strands of saffron

15 mint leaves

Salt

1 tbsp ginger garlic paste

1 small fistful of Barista.

1 tsp Ghee/ clarified butter

250 gms Basmati rice

10 pepper corns

5 cloves

1 bay leaf

1 piece of mace

3 onions sliced and fried to a crisp in a mixture of ghee and oil .

For the seasoning:

Ghee and oil mixture used to fry the onions.

1/2 tsp Shahi jeera

5 cloves

1 large piece of cinnamon

For the saffron infused milk:

1 cup of milk

A few strands of saffron

2 green chillies slit

2 tbsps of the ghee oil mixture in which the onions were fried.

For the Barista:

Heat a mixture of ghee and oil. Fry the sliced onions till crisp and brown.

Method:

Wash and soak the Basmati rice for half an hour. Drain. Drop in a bay leaf, the pepper corns, mace and cloves in a pot of water along with a tsp of ghee and salt. Bring to a roaring boil and then add the drained Basmati rice. Boil it on a high flame for three minutes. Switch off, cover and keep aside for ten minutes. Drain and allow to rest in the colander.

Tip in the chopped vegetables, paneer mint leaves, curds, coriander powder, chilly powder, turmeric, Shahi jeera the ginger garlic paste and a small fistful of Barista. Add salt, mix well and allow to marinate for about fifteen minutes. Heat the remaining ghee oil mixture. Drop in the cloves, bay leaf, Shahi jeera and cinnamon. Once they splutter drop in the marinated vegetables and saute till around seventy percent cooked. Heat a wide pan with a lid. Tip in half of the vegetables into it and spread it. Top it with a layer of rice, the saffron infused milk , Barista and a few mint leaves. Pour the remaining vegetables over this and spread it all over. Again top it with a layer of rice, Barista, saffron infused milk and mint leaves. Cover and cook over an extremely gentle flame till all the flavours are absorbed and the Biryani is completely cooked. Serve hot with raita.

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I had prepared some extra Basmati rice the previous evening as I always prefer the rice to sit around for a couple of hours in the fridge before seasoning it. The grains remain intact and the final product looks pleasing.

I decided to prepare a Cabbage rice as per the recipe suggested by my friend dear Smitha Pai. The crunch of peanuts and cabbage makes this rice absolutely delicious!

Ingredients:

1 cup of left over cooked rice

1 large onion sliced

1 small Capsicum sliced

2 cups of cabbage roughly chopped

3 tbsps peanuts

1 tsp chilly powder

A large pinch of turmeric powder

A large pinch of Garam masala

2 green chillies

Salt

3 tbsps coriander leaves for garnishing.

For the tempering:

2 tbsps oil

1 tbsp ghee/ clarified butter

1/2 tsp Jeera/ cumin seeds

A sprig of curry leaf.

Method:

Heat the oil and ghee in a pan. Drop in the cumin seeds and after they splutter add the peanuts. Toss for a few seconds and then add the green chillies , curry leaves and onion. Add salt and saute till the onions turn translucent. Drop in the garam masala, turmeric and chilly powder. Toss and add the capsicum and cabbage. Saute on a high flame till cooked but crunchy. Tip in the cooked rice and mix well. Allow the rice to heat on a gentle flame. Serve hot garnished with coriander leaves.

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The recipe of this one pot meal of Methi Pulao was shared by my friend dear Rekha Pai. It is so fragrant and filled with the goodness of Methi leaves. In fact it needs no accompaniment. I served it with a mixed vegetable raita as the family likes all rice preparations with a curd based side dish. Methi is good for diabetics, so those interested in trying this recipe could replace rice with any of the millets.

Ingredients:

250 gms Basmati rice washed and drained

Salt

500 ml boiling water

Ingredients to be ground to a paste:

12 green chillies

2 garlic cloves

2 inch piece of Cinnamon

5 cloves

5 Marathi moggu ( Kapok buds)

A bunch of coriander leaves

3 tbsps oil

A large pinch of turmeric powder

For the tempering:

4 tbsps Ghee/ clarified butter

15 cloves of garlic finely chopped

2 large onions minced

4 large tomatoes chopped fine

A large bunch of Methi leaves chopped fine

Method:

Heat oil in a pan. Drop in the whole spices. Toss and then add the onions , garlic , green chillies, coriander leaves and turmeric powder. Roast till the onions turn translucent. Switch off, allow to cool and grind to a fine paste. Keep aside.

Heat the Ghee in a pressure cooker. Drop in the onions and garlic and roast to a golden brown. Add the ground paste and roast till it leaves the sides of the cooker. Add the methi leaves and roast till they wilt . Tip in the tomatoes and roast till mushy. Add the washed and drained rice and saute for a couple of minutes. Add salt. Pour in the boiling water , cover and cook to two whistles. Serve hot with a raita of your choice.

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Leftover rice is usually seasoned depending upon one’s preference. A few vegetables are thrown in and you can either temper it with all the whole Garam masalas, or with garlic and onions or make one just using tomatoes. Posting the recipe shared by my friend Arun Babu…of the Vagharela Bhaath made the way his family prefers it.

Ingredients:

1 cup Basmati rice cooked and ready. Recipe link to making the rice is given below. https://vinayasculinarydelights.com/recipe-to-make-the-perfect-rice/

1 carrot chopped

1potato cubed

A handful of peas

A few cashewnuts halved

2 onions sliced

2 tomatoes chopped

1 inch piece of ginger

5 cloves of garlic

2 green chillies

1 tbsp Kashmiri Lal chilly powder

1/4 tsp Turmeric powder

1/4 tsp Garam masala

For the tempering:

2 small pieces of cinnamon

2 cloves

2 green cardamom crushed

2 tbsps of Ghee/ clarified butter

1 tbsp oil.

Method:

Make a coarse paste of the garlic, ginger and green chillies. Heat the oil and ghee mixture in a pan. Drop in the whole spices and after they splutter add the cashewnuts. After they turn a golden yellow,add the sliced onions and ginger, garlic, green chilly paste. Roast till the onions turn translucent. Drop in the garam masala, red chilly powder turmeric powder and salt. Saute for half a minute. Add the vegetables and mix thoroughly. Add half a glass of water, cover and cook the vegetables till they are firm but done. Add the cooked rice. Mix and heat thoroughly. Serve with a raita of your choice.

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