Easy Peas & Carrots Pulao ( Pilaf)

My husband likes his food to be colorful. So, whenever a side dish calls for a little fancy kind of rice, like jeera rice or ghee rice, I make this instead. My children like it too and this way they get their portion of veggies too. It's quick & easy to make.

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

Basmati Rice: 2 cups
Ghee(clarified butter): 1 tbsp
Olive oil: 1 tbsp
Clove: 2
Cinnamon : 1 half-inch stick
Cardamom :2 whole
Bay leaf: 1 big
Cashew halves: 1 tbsp
Raisins: 1 tsp
Peas and carrots(frozen):1/2 cup
Hot Water:4 cups
Salt to taste

Method:

Wash basmati rice thoroughly, drain and keep aside 15-30 mins before adding it to the pan.

In a sauté pan/wok/pressure cooker heat olive oil and ghee. Add clove, cinnamon stick, cardamom, bay leaf, cashew halves one after the other. Sauté on medium-to low flame until cashew halves start turning a little golden. Now add raisins and sauté for 10 seconds until they begin to turn a little plump.

Add the drained basmati rice and sauté for 2-3 mins or until the rice crackles. Add in the peas and carrots.Now add 4 cups of boiling hot water and salt. Mix well. Once you see the liquid is boiling, reduce the flame to low, cover it and cook for 15 mins.After 15 mins, switch off the flame,fluff the rice.Keep it covered for another 15 mins before serving.

Serve with any side dish that has gravy . I served mine this time with butter chicken. Recipe will be made available in my next post.

Cooking made easy:

• While making any rice dishes that uses uncooked rice, the general rule of thumb for rice and water ratio is 1:2 unless stated otherwise.
• Make sure that you use hot water and not cold. This makes cooking faster.
• If using pressure cooker, do not put the weight ( whistle) on.
• Fluffing the rice at the end of 15 mins ensures that the top layer of the rice does not get hard.
• In the above recipe, I used frozen fresh peas and carrots.You can use dried peas which has been soaked and cooked and fresh carrots, diced.
• I use ghee and olive oil in 1:1 ratio in my dishes instead of ghee alone in order to reduce the amount of calories. Ghee is needed as it adds flavor to the dish.

Tip for Healthy Living:

Some amount of fats are required in our diets as they have numerous essential functions in the human body. This is especially true in growing children. As long as the fats are natural and not man-made and in small amounts,  it is healthy. 

Food for thought:

One step at a time. ( unknown)