BM # 32 Week 3
Theme:Regional
Cuisine :Mughlai Awadhi
Cooking with alphabets : "N"
Nawabi Pulao is a rice which is cooked in milk and whole spices.Both milk and whole spices give the rice a very mild flavor and while the rice is cooking one can make out that a exotic dish is being cooked.the rice can be enjoyed plain and simple but the addition of vegetable and nuts just enhances the taste .The addition of cottage cheese cubes and fried almonds and raisins gives the rice a totally new dimension.Whenever I make these, I never forget to add them.The finale to the rice is by sprinkling saffron and baking the rice.The rice does not have any chilly or powdered spices, yet the rice has a taste which is very pleasing and one wants to eat more and more.
I had made these for Avadhi Thali , but could not post the recipe, but now with regional dishes as my theme This Nawabi Pulao fitted so well with the alphabet "N".
1 cup basmati rice, washed and soaked for 15 minutes.
1 cup water
1 cup milk
1 tbsp ghee
1/4 tsp cumin seed
2-3 cloves
1 small stick cinnamon
Vegetables
French beans, chopped and boiled
Carrots, diced into small cubes , boiled
Green peas, boiled
Cottage cheese, cut into small cubes deep fried and immersed in water with a pinch of turmeric
Few strands saffron dissolved in 4-5 tsps of warm water
Fried crisp onion
Fried almonds
Fried cashew nuts
Fried raisins
Heat oil.
Add the bay leaf, cumin seed, cloves and cinnamon.
Add the washed rice.
Sauté for 2 -3 minutes, or till all the water has dried.
Add water and milk.
Add salt.
Transfer the rice to the rice cooker and cook rice, else cook in a pot.
Once the rice is cooked, assemble these in a baking dish.
Assembling the rice
Spread the rice in a baking dish.
Sprinkle the chopped boiled vegetables.
Sprinkle the cottage cheese cubes.
Sprinkle the fried nuts and raisins.
Sprinkle the fried onion.
Lastly sprinkle the saffron water.
Cover with a foil and bake in an oven for 10- 15 minutes.
I served the rice with Shahi Paneer and Daal Tadka.
