My Memories of Eating Kadhi Pulao
I have vivid memories of eating this soulful meal during winter. Growing up in India, you know you get fresh vibrant vegetables in abundance! Carrots and Peas being very popular during this time of the year, mom would often whip up this meal for lunch! She has always paired this pulao with Gujarati Kadhi, or her famous tomato soup! Pulao was always a happy meal at home. I grew up in a joint family, and literally all 10 of us enjoyed this meal! Imagine feeding 10 people 3 meals every day, and then you nail a rustic meal that everyone loves. So yes, I not only eat this meal very fondly, but I love making it.
What is Pulao?
If you don’t know what pulao is, you might know it more famously by the name of Pilaf. Pilaf is a Mediterranean rice dish, and India has beautifully adapted their version of the rice dish and made some spectacular versions of their own. Pulao is a one-pot rice dish made with Basmati Rice, seasoned with whole and ground spices, with vegetables and different proteins. There are both vegetarian and nonvegetarian versions of this recipe prepared in India. The major difference between Pulao and Biryani is that Rice is cooked with a choice of vegetables and proteins along with seasoning in one pot. While, for Biryani the rice is cooked separately and then later added to the prepared Masala Base.
Ingredients to Make Carrot and Peas Pulao
The Ingredients to Make this recipe are pantry staple, and the recipe is very easy to make.
Basmati Rice - Pulao is famous for its beautifully long-grained fluffy rice. And to make a perfect pulao, you will need Long Grained Basmati Rice! Water - Water is used to soak the rice for about 15-20 mins, and then we will be using it to cook the rice. You can use vegetable broth instead of water to cook the rice if you wish to. Ghee - Ghee adds a beautiful nutty flavor to the rice, so I prefer using ghee. But if you want to make this dish vegan, you can use groundnut oil or coconut oil. Whole Spices - The only way we season our pulao is with these beautiful whole spices. They infuse their rustic flavors beautifully in the rice. Cinnamon sticks, bay leaves, black cardamon, cloves, star anise, and cumin seeds are the whole spices we will be using to make this recipe. Carrots and Green Peas - This rice recipe is a very warm and hearty recipe. Carrots and green peas are available in abundance during winter and they taste so delicious when paired together! Salt - Because there is no other ingredient that ties all the flavors together! Isn’t it?
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Expert Tips to Make the Perfect Pulao
Ensure that the rice is fluffy. That makes for a great pulao. The quality of rice matters a lot to make any pulao perfectly. I prefer to use long-grained Basmati Rice. While you can also use other varieties of rice, the rice-to-water ratio may be different depending on the quality of rice. To make perfect pulao, the rice-to-water ratio is very important. For 1 cup of rice, I use 2 cups of Water, following the 1:2 ratio. I also prefer to use a 2:1 ratio of rice to vegetables in this recipe. It works perfectly. Sauté the rice until fragrant before adding the water. This helps the rice getting infused with all the flavors and oils released from the whole spices. Add hot water to cook the rice, so we maintain the temperature of cooking the pulao.
