November 13, 2009

Easy Mixed Vegetable Rice/ Pulao without pressure cooker

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During the production release week at work, everything becomes chaotic and extremely busy. New features and last-minute changes are often added to the release at the eleventh hour, which means more work must be completed before the deadline. Consequently, I end up bringing work home to finish the tasks. This impacts dinner time, so I try to prepare something that’s a one-pot meal, quick, and healthy. While take-out works for a day or two, we start craving something hearty and homemade, even if it’s simple Daal-chawal (Rice and Daal).

During such times, this easy mixed Vegetable Rice recipe becomes my go-to solution.. This recipe is based on Methi Rice/Fenugreek Rice that I had learnt from my mother except that in this case I substitute fenugreek leaves with other vegetables. Served with Raita and Pappads, it becomes a complete meal. To top it all off, there’s no guilt involved in enjoying this dish—it’s low-fat and packed with heart-healthy vegetables.

This tastes more like a pulav and can be made without the pressure cooker. In one of my earlier post, there were some discussions about making pulav in the pressure cooker as it tends to burn at the bottom. So if there are such concerns then this rice can be made in a regular pan itself.

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Ingredients: 

  • 1 ½ cups rice
  • 1 medium onion
  • Vegetables (potato, peas, carrot, bean, cauliflower)
  • Cloves
  • Cinnamon
  • Cumin seeds
  • Bay leaves
  • Mustard seeds
  •  Oil
  •  Salt
  •  Coriander leaves (handful)

Grind to paste:

  •  ½ cup shredded coconut
  •  3-4 green chillies
  •  3 garlic cloves
  •  ½ inch ginger

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Preparation:

 

  •  Soak the rice for about 30 minutes. Pressure cook the rice, making sure that it is not over cooked and the grains remain separate.
  •  Chop the onions and also the other vegetables (carrot, beans, potatoes etc)
  •  Boil some water and cook the vegetables (except onions) along with salt.
  •  Grind the coconut, garlic, ginger and green chillies with little water. Do not add too much water, enough to grind it to a smooth paste.

Procedure:

  •  In a heavy bottom pan, heat some oil add the mustard, cumin seeds and when they begin to splutter, add the bay leaves,cinnamon, cloves.
  •  Add onion and sauté until transparent.  Add the other vegetables and mix well.
  •  Next add the ground paste,salt and fry until the raw smell of garlic and ginger is gone.
  •  Add the cooked rice, salt and mix well. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.
  •  This can be eaten as is or served with raita of choice.

Related posts:

  1. Mixed Vegetable Kurma Recipe
  2. Vegetable Pulao/Pulav with Cheese
  3. Easy Breezy Vegetable Peas Pulao/ Rice Pilaf
  4. Daal Ka Pulao / Vegetable Khichidi
  5. Methi (Fenugreek) Rice

Author:
Filed Under: Easy Vegetarian Recipes, Rice, Kichidi Pulao Varieties

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