Jeera Rice(Jeera Pulao) and Punjabi Aloo Amritsari

Heard about this jeera rice/ pulao from my cousin many times but was hesitant to try as I doubted whether hubby will like it or not. But when I asked him , he gave a green signal so called her up to get the recipe, I tweaked it a bit to suit our taste...and here comes the jeera rice/pulao from my kitchen.

Thanks for the lovely bowl Nithi! :)

Jeera Rice / Jeera Pulao Recipe :

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• Rice - 1 cup
• Water - 2 and 1/4 cups
• Onion
• Ghee - 1 tbsp
• Oil - 1 tbsp
• Salt- to taste

To temper:

• Jeera - 2 tsp
• Green chillies - 2 slitted
• Curry leaves - few

Optional items to temper:

• Cloves - 1
• Cinnamom - 1/4 inch piece
• Bayleaf - a small piece

Method:

1. Soak basmati rice for 30mins and keep aside.
2. Heat oil in pan add jeera allow it to crackle then add onions saute until slightly browned then add curry leaves and green chillies, saute for a min. (Add the optional tempering items if you like the flavour)
3. Drain water from rice and add it to the pan, fry and mix well for 2mins. Add 2 and 1/4 cups of water , salt and keep closed. I didnt pressure cook it was a normal sauce pan so just cooked keeping the lid closed. Check after 5-8 mins
4. Stir in between to avoid sticking to the bottom. Once the rice has cooked Add ghee, mix it once and switch off.

Punjabi Aloo Amritsari Recipe

Recipe Source : TV Show

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• Potato - 3 medium sized
• Curd - 2 tbsp
• Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
• Garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp
• Chilli powder - 1 tsp
• Coriander leaves - 1 tsp
• Salt - to taste

To make a thin paste:

• Ginger garlic paste
• Besan - 2 tbsp
• Ajwain seeds(omam) -1/2 tsp
• Salt - to taste

To grind:

• Onion - 1
• Green chillies - 1
• Garlic - 5
• Cashews - 5

Method:

1. Pressure cook potatoes(upto 4 whistles) until soft but firm enough, peel of skin and cube them into squares.
2. Make a thin batter of besan, salt, ginger-garlic paste, ajwain seeds adding little water. Marinate potato cubes in the batter for 15mins.Deep fry them or toast them in a dosa tawa until slightly crispy, keep aside
3. Heat oil in a pan, add the grinded paste and fry till raw smell leaves.Add salt (toasted potato has salt already so add accordingly), turmeric, chilli and garam masala powders and fry well. Then add the toasted potatoes and mix.
4. Then add curd, mix well and simmer for 2mins. Switch off.
5. Garnish with coriander leaves.

My Notes:

• Adding curd is purely optional the cook said but luved the addition of it
• Deep frying or toasting is left to ur choice and yes as u guessed I chose the latter :)
• It is a semi dry gravy and goes well with rice or rotis.
• Jeera rice is a easy one pot meal but is very mild so need a flavourful curry as sidedish.