‘Pilaf’ or ‘Pulao’ is a type of rice preparation commonly cooked across Indian, Central and South Asian, Middle Eastern, East African, Latin American and Caribbean cuisines. Though there are different names and plenty of recipes of pulao, basically it is prepared with long grain, fragrant rice along with seasoning like ‘Garam Masala’ or any other native spices depending on where it is prepared.

This recipe is simple and subtle in taste. We have used Basmati Long Grain rice, whole garam masala, green peas and paneer or cottage cheese.

Ingredients:

2 cups Basmati Long grain rice; washed and soaked in water for 15 minutes,

1 1/2 cups shelled green peas,

1 cup diced paneer cubes; lightly fried in ghee or oil,

1 medium size onion; halved and thinly sliced,

Around 3-4 tbsp Ghee for tempering,

Salt to taste,

Some cashew nuts to garnish,

4 cups water.

Whole Garam Masala-

3 Bay leaves (tejpatta),

3 black cardamom (badi elaichi),

2 medium size sticks of cinnamon (dalchini),

5-6 peppercorns (kali mirch),

2-3 cloves (laung),

1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera).

Method:

Heat ghee in pressure cooker on a medium flame. Add all the ingredients of whole garam masala and sauté for half a minute. Then add sliced onion and sauté until translucent. Then add peas ans sauté for 3-4 minutes. Drain rice and add to the pressure cooker. Roast for a minute or two. Then add paneer cubes, water, salt and cashew nuts. Give it a nice stir, cover with the lid and pressure cook up to 1-2 whistles. Remove from flame and let the pressure drop completely. Then transfer to a serving bowl and serve hot with dal or any gravy, papad and pickle.

Last month I was in Seattle with my husband. We met up with my school friends and they took us to this awesome Thai restaurant called ‘King and I’ located in Bellevue. Amongst the different dishes we ordered, I peculiarly liked the Yellow Curry, Prawns Rolls, Chicken Satay and their Peanut Sauce was lipsmacking. We ate 3 bowls of peanut sauce, can you imagine! Anyway the best dish that I had was Pineapple Fried Rice. It is made up of Pineapple, Egg, Onion, Broccoli, Tomatoes, Green Onion with our Choice of Meat. But since we had vegetarians in our group, we ordered the rice with Tofu. It was delicious.

Here I am sharing a recipe of Pineapple Fried Rice which I learnt after I had it in ‘King and I’. You’ll like it! Though this is recipe has tofu in it, you can replace it with sausages or shrimps.

Ingredients:

2 cups of cooked rice; cold,

1/2 fresh pineapple or a tin of pineapple slices with juice,

1 cup tofu slices or sausages or shrimps,

Few florets of Broccoli; blanched,

3 green onions; thinly sliced,

1/2 cup mushrooms; blanched,

1 large tomato; deseeded, cut into half and then sliced,

2 tbsp soy sauce,

1 tbsp fish sauce,

2 red chillies; finely chopped,

2 eggs; beaten,

Salt and Brown sugar to taste,

1/4 cup of Peanut or sesame oil,

Some cilantro to garnish.

Method:

Heat oil in a wok on high flame. Add garlic, onion and saute on medium flame for a minute. Then add eggs, tofu/sausage/shrimps and cook for few minutes. Then add broccoli, carrots, mushrooms, rice, fish sauce, soy sauce and cook for few more minutes. Stir in chopped pineapple, sliced red chillies and tomaotes. Cook for a minute. Garnish with cilantro and serve hot.

An ideal recipe for kids parties or even for adults. Fairly simple and nutritious recipe.

Ingredients:

250gms long grain (Basmati) rice; washed,

1/2 bunch of Spinach (palak) leaves; cleaned and washed,

1 tsp cumin seeds,

2 green chillies; finely chopped,

2 tsp ginger-garlic paste,

1 medium size onion; sliced,

1/2 cup shelled green peas,

1 large capsicum; halved and then sliced,

1 tsp ground cumin,

1 tsp ground coriander,

Salt to taste,

Lemon juice to taste,

3 tbsp oil for tempering.

Method:

Blanch the spinach leaves with some water. Drain and grind to paste. Retain the water for further use.

In a pressure cooker, heat oil and add cumin, ginger-garlic paste, chillies and onion, saute for few minutes. Then add peas, ground cumin and coriander, capsicum and stir. Add the spinach puree, mix and cover and cook for a minute. Then add washed rice, around 3 cups of water, salt and cover with the lid. Pressure cook upto 2 whistles. Let it rest until pressure drops. Open, add lemon juice, stir and serve hot with raita and papad.

A nice flavored and seasoned corn and spinach rice recipe from India. Though no spices are used to prepare this rice, the seasoning adds a distinct garlic and red chilli flavor to this recipe.

Ingredients: (Serves 4)

1 1/2 cups rice,

A bunch of spinach (palak) leaves,

1 cup boiled corn kernels,

2 small carrots; diced,

2 medium size onions; halved and thinly sliced,

2 tbsp cashew nuts,

1 tsp ginger-garlic paste,

1 green chilli,

Salt to taste,

Juice of 1/2 lemon,

Chopped coriander leaves,

Oil for frying,

Water.

For tempering -

2 tbsp ghee (unsalted butter),

1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera),

1 tsp finely chopped garlic,

2-3 dry red chillies; broken into pieces.

Method:

Wash rice and soak in some water while you prepare. Blanch spinach and blend it into a smooth puree. Add enough water while grinding to yield around 1 1/2 cup puree. Grind together cashew nuts, ginger-garlic paste, green chillies and few coriander leaves (reserve some to garnish). Now heat some oil in a pressure cooker. To it add sliced onions and cook until they soften. Then add ginger-garlic-cashew-green chilli paste and saute for 2 minutes. Now add carrots and corn, mix, cover (with a normal lid and not the pressure cooker lid) and cook for 2 minutes. Uncover and pour in the spinach puree. Stir and cook for 2 more minutes. Now drain off excess water from rice and add it to the pressure cooker. Stir properly and add around 2 cups of water. Add salt, lemon juice, some cashew nuts, mix and cover with the pressure cooker lid. Pressure cook upto 2-3 whistles. Serve with raita, papad and pickle.

An Indian rice recipe from the part of Maharashtra. ‘Vangi’ means brinjal, eggplant or aubergine. The rice has a subtle flavor of coconut and coriander with some mild spices.

Ingredients:

4 medium size vangi (brinjals), halved and then sliced,

1 cup uncooked rice, washed and soaked for 10-15 minutes,

1 onion; halved and sliced,

1 green chilli; finely chopped,

1 tsp ginger-garlic paste,

1 small tomato; finely chopped or pureed,

2 bay leaves,

2 elaichi (green cardamom),

4 laung (cloves),

1/4 tsp turmeric powder,

1/2 tsp red chilli powder,

1/4 tsp ground black pepper,

1 tsp ground dhania (coriander powder),

1/2 tsp ground jeera (cumin powder),

Salt to taste,

Oil for frying and tempering,

1-2 tsp of lemon juice,

Freshly grated coconut and chopped coriander leaves to garnish.

Masala (Spice) paste -

1/3 cup freshly grated coconut,

1″ ginger,

4-5 cloves of garlic and few coriander leaves.

Method:

Heat oil for frying in a kadhai (wok) and fry the brinjal slices in batches on medium flame, till golden. Drain on paper towels. Meanwhile on another flame, heat some oil in a deep pan. To it add bay leaves, cloves, cardamom and sliced onion and saute on low-medium flame till onion turns soft. Then add ginger-garlic paste, green chillies and roast for few minutes. Then add tomatoes, cover and cook till they soften. Uncover and add all the spices, stir and cook for 2 minutes. Then add the ground paste and further cook for 2 minutes. Then add washed rice, mix, add 2 cups of water, salt, stir and cover with lid. Let the rice cook on low-medium flame for around 15 minutes. Stir occasionally, add more water if required (depending upon the rice). Add the fried brinjal, cover and cook for 5-7 minutes. Transfer to serving bowl, garnish with coconut and coriander leaves. Serve hot with yogurt, raita, papad (popadum) and pickle.