Pulao or Pulav or Pilav, is a rice based dish made usually with Basmati rice mixing with aromatic spices and herbs. There are numerous variants of pulao, such as tava pulao, matar pulao, veg pulao, etc. The one am sharing recipe here is Navratan Pulao, this has generous usage of dry fruits and vegetables.
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What is pulao?
Some of the other names of Pulao are Pela, Pilav, Pallao, Pilau, Pelau, Pulao, Pulaav, Palaw, Palavu, Plov, Palov, Polov, Polo, Polu, Kurysh, Fulao, Fulaaw, Fulav, Fulab and varies from region to region. This is common to central asian, east african, middle east, south asian, balkan, latin american cuisine.
“Navratan” means nine gems. This pulao consists of 9 vegetables and dry fruits (I have used more than 9). Because this pulao has raisins added to it, it gives bit of sweet taste to the rice, if you do not like that taste, you can ignore adding raisins.
Navratan pulav is considered as a royal dish, and is made on special occasions.
Difference between Pulao and Biryani
Pulao is not same as biryani.
Biryani is a rice dish, where the rice and meat/ chicken or vegetable is first partially cooked separately. Then they layered and cooked/matured on low flame with other ingredients.
To make the Pulao sauté the ingredients (rice and vegetables / meat) first, then cook in water. There is no layering concept in Pulao.
Method to make Navratan Pulao
- Wash and soak rice for 20 minutes. After that boil 4 cup of water in a big pot and add half teaspoon salt and rice to it. Once they are 80 percent cooked, strain them in a colander and keep aside.
- Heat 2 tablespoon of ghee in a big pan and fry cashews, almonds and raisins till they are golden brown. Take them out and keep aside.
- To the same pan, add rest 2 tablespoon ghee. Keep the heat to medium. Add bay leaves, green and black cardamom, cumin seeds, peppercorns, Cloves and cinnamon stick. Sauté for a minute and then add onions to it.
- Once the onion are golden add grated ginger, potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, beans and asparagus. Sauté for a minute and cover the pan for 3-4 minutes. Now add capsicum, tomatoes, chillies, green peas and sauté these vegetables till they are soft and tender.
- Add paneer, sweetcorn, fried cashews, almonds, raisins and salt and mix. Now add cooked rice to the pan and mix gently so that rice don’t break. Pour saffron milk and cover the pan with lid. Cook it over low heat for 7-8 minutes and switch off the heat. Transfer the navratan pulao on a serving plate and enjoy it hot.
Serving suggestions for Navratan Pulao
Serve pulao with raita. You can also serve Pulao with lentils / dal or gravy based curry.
Below is the step by step recipe to make Navratan Pulao at home.
Recipe Card
Navratan Pulao
Ingredients
- 2 Cups Long Grain Basmati Rice
- 1/2 Cup Carrot Diced
- 1/2 Cup Potato Diced
- 1/2 Cup Green Beans Chopped
- 1 Cup Cauliflower Flotets
- 1 Tomato Chopped
- 1/3 Cup Capsicum Chopped
- 1/3 Cup Asparagus Chopped (Optional)
- 1 Cup Green Peas I have used frozen
- 1/3 Cup Sweetcorn I have used Canned
- 100 Grams Paneer / Indian Cottage Cheese
- 1 Onion Large, thinly sliced
- 1 Teaspoon Ginger Grated
- 2 Green chillies Fresh
- 2 Bayleaves
- 2 Green Cardamom (Buy Now)
- 2 Black Cardamoms (Buy Now)
- 1 Tablespoon Cumin Seeds (Buy Now)
- 1 Inch Cinnamon stick
- 2-3 Cloves (Click to buy from WholeFoodsOnline)
- 3-4 Peppercorns (Click to get from WholeFoodsOnline)
- 15 Almonds (Buy Now)
- 15-17 Golden Raisins (Buy Now)
- 20 Cashew Nuts (Click to get from WholeFoodsOnline)
- 1.5 Teaspoon Salt
- 4 Tablespoon Ghee / Clarified Butter
- Few Saffron strands soaked in warm milk
Instructions
- Wash and soak rice for 20 minutes. After that boil 4 cup of water in a big pot and add half teaspoon salt and rice to it. Once they are 80 percent cooked, strain them in a colander and keep aside.
- Heat 2 tablespoon of ghee in a big pan and fry cashews, almonds and raisins till they are golden brown. Take them out and keep aside.
- To the same pan, add rest 2 tablespoon ghee. Keep the heat to medium. Add bay leaves, green and black cardamom, cumin seeds, peppercorns, Cloves and cinnamon stick. Sauté for a minute and then add onions to it.
- Once the onion are golden add grated ginger, potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, beans and asparagus. Sauté for a minute and cover the pan for 3-4 minutes. Now add capsicum, tomatoes, chillies, green peas and sauté these vegetables till they are soft and tender.
- Add paneer, sweetcorn, fried cashews, almonds, raisins and salt and mix. Now add cooked rice to the pan and mix gently so that rice don’t break. Pour saffron milk and cover the pan with lid. Cook it over low heat for 7-8 minutes and switch off the heat.
- Transfer the navratan pulao on a serving plate and enjoy it hot.
Notes
- You can also use any easy cooking vegetable of your choice in this recipe like broccoli etc.
- I have used Desi Ghee/Clarified butter in my recipe however you can alternate it with olive oil/ refined Oil.
- Don’t overcook the vegetables while sautéing as we want them to be soft and crunchy together.
Nutrition
You may also like Veg Pulao