Corn Pulao/Sweet Corn Pulav

Hi All, If I start with a ”Happy New Year” wish, that will sound a little crazy as already a month is over by now. So i hope that everyone is off with a good start this season. The past month was really hectic and some things at work didn’t really go down well and it was all over my head literally eating my head. It took some time for me to get out of that and now I am ok ! I guess!!! Now with a little bit of boost to the my morale, I m up with another favourite rice dish of mine!

Ingredients:

Sweet Corn-1 cup

Basmati Rice-1 cup

Onion-1, finely chopped

Chillies-2.slit (red/green)

To Grind:

Coconut-2 tbsp

Cashews-6

Garlic-4 pods

Ginger-1 inch piece

Stone Flower (kal paasi)-1 tbsp (optional)

Blend all these with little water into a smooth paste.

To Temper:

Ghee-1 tbsp

Oil-1 tbsp

Bay leaves-2

Clove-2

Cinnamon-1 inch piece

Cardamom-1

How It Happened:

1. Soak the basmati rice in water for 30 minutes. Heat oil and ghee in a pressure cooker; Add the ingredients given under the ‘to temper’ list.

2. When they crackle, add the onions and chillies and fry until they wilt.

3. Then add the corn and cook for 4-5 minutes until they slightly swell up.

4. Add the ground coconut paste and cook for few minutes in simmer until the raw smell goes off.

5. Strain the water completely and add the soaked basmati rice into the cooker and mix carefully so as not to break the rice grains.

6. Add salt and 1 & ¾ cups of water and let it boil in medium flame.

7. Once they start boiling, close the lid and cook for 1 whistle. Then simmer the flame and let it cook for 10 minutes.

8. Switch off the flame and let it cool down.

9. Open the lid and fluff the rice with a fork.

10. Serve hot with raita.

Notes:

* Soaking the basmati rice helps in cooking the rice to perfection.

* i had red chillies hence i added. You can add green chillies too. It’s a mildly spiced pulao hence adjust the chillies accordingly. The rice can also be paired with a gravy  of your choice.

* The rice will be a little sticky as we have added coconut but you can skip coconut if you want perfect looking long grain rice.

* i added fresh sweet corn but you can use frozen ones too.