Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Fresh mint and peas pulao: Cucumber raita with fried onions and garlic





While I boiled rice for this pulao, I was not quite sure what I was going to do with it.  I love the smell of rice boiling that fills the air. It made me think of the versatility of rice. From biryani, pulao, khichdi, to idli, dhokla, rice kheer are all favorites. With thoughts of rice based dishes filling my head, I decided to make a quick fresh mint and peas pualo. It was simple with lots of flavor from the fresh mint and some garam masala. I accompanied the pulao with cucumber raita seasoned with fried onion and garlic. The seasoning is optional as cucumber raita tastes great even without additional seasoning with just a little salt and and roasted cumin powder, but I love garlic and enjoyed the taste of caramelized onion and garlic in the yogurt.













 
Ingredients
For the pulao
1 cup rice
1and a half cup frozen peas
1 large onion
chopped mint leaves
bay leaf, black cardamom, cumin seeds, cloves, black pepper
 garam masala
cashews, raisins
cilatnro
salt
ghee





Method
Boil rice with salt. Keep aside
Heat ghee, add the bay leaf, cardamom, cloves, black pepper and cumin seeds. Let it splutter. Add the sliced onion and cashews. Cook on medium heat till the onions start turning brown. Now add the frozen peas, mint leaves, salt and garam masala. Mix this with the rice. Add some fresh mint and cilantro



Raita
2-3 small seedless cucumbers
red chilli powder
1 green chilli
1 clove of garlic
half an onion sliced
1 cup yogurt
salt and sugar to taste
 
Method
Whisk yogurt along with salt and a pinch of sugar. Now grate the cucumbers, squeeze them to remove excess water and mix in the yogurt. Heat oil in a pot and add cumin seeds. Once they splutter add the onion and garlic. Let it cook till golden brown. Add one chopped green chilli. Pour this over the yogurt and mix. Sprinkle some red chilli powder before serving.
Serve along the peas and mint pulao.
















4 comments:

  1. That's true rice is very versatile main ingredient and merge so well with peas...Peas pulao with raita is tempting.

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  2. The white and greens with the brown onions looks very attractive and tempting.
    You could link it to the event happening at my space:
    http://palakkadcooking.blogspot.in/2012/09/show-me-your-hits-event-announcement.html

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  3. Such a lovely spread, makes me hungry.

    ReplyDelete
  4. yummy..just looks perfect.
    happy to follow u..
    would b glad if u follow back :)

    http://vaishnavacooking.blogspot.in/

    ReplyDelete