tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8469292.post-1146337383207277402006-04-29T11:44:00.000-07:002006-04-29T12:03:03.263-07:002006-04-29T12:03:03.263-07:00One of my favourite dishes as a child was Junglee Pulao. My uncle used to make it for us every now and then. The way he made it, the rice would be slightly overcooked and soggy, and I liked it that way. I wouldn't tolerate soggy rice in any other dish, but for junglee pulao, it couldn't have been any other way.<br /><br />Today, waking up all groggy and hungry at lunch time, I started thinking about what to make. First thought about biryani. Then realised that I was way too hungry to wait till it was done. Decided to go the shortcut and try the famous junglee pulao. I used mushrooms and potatoes, but you can also use mutton and other vegetables. Stay away from sweet vegetables though, because they add weirdness to the taste.<br /><br />Ingredients (serves one):<br />- 2 tsp jeera powder<br />- 1 tsp coriander powder<br />- 1/2 tsp haldi powder<br />- 1 tsp chilli powder<br />- 1/2 tsp garam masala<br />- 2 tsp salt<br />- pepper optional, to taste (I didn't include any)<br />- 250gm curd<br />- 1 cup rice, washed<br />- 2 cups water<br />- 2 cloves<br />- 2 cardamoms<br />- 1 packet button mushrooms chopped up<br />- 2 large potatoes cut into 6 pieces each<br />- 1.5 tbsp sunflower oil<br /><br />Method:<br />1. Heat the oil in a pressure cooker<br />2. Add the chilli powder, jeera powder, haldi powder and coriander powder<br />3. At the same time, boil the water in a saucepan and add the salt to it<br />4. Once the masalas have fried and you can really smell it, add the mushrooms and potatoes<br />5. Mix it around a bit until the water from the mushrooms comes out and they start cooking in it<br />6. Add the rice<br />7. Add boiling water<br />8. Mix and allow to boil for a bit<br />9. Add curd and garam masala<br />10. Close the pressure cooker and leave it on high flame for one whistle and then 2-3 minutes on medium flame.<br /><br />Once all steam has escaped (you may need to let some of it out if you're ready to eat), open the cooker and serve.<br /><br />Other variations include using mutton instead of mushrooms. In that case, you need to fry the mutton for a little longer before you add the potatoes, and leave the pressure on for 2 whistles, You may also want to fry onions and tomatoes and ginger-garlic paste with the meat/mushrooms. Experiment with different combinations for different flavours.<br /><br />You can get interesting flavours by adding various kinds of nuts. My favourite would be pine seed, slightly roasted.<br /><br />If you want it more spicy, add pepper.<br /><br />Try it and let me know how you like it.Blueshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18075968083522627991noreply@blogger.com