This rice dish is very popular and has become worldwide famous among rice lovers. It tastes delicious by itself as well as with any vegetable curry or with any chicken/meat/fish curry. This is originally from Northern India and now has taken a top place in almost all menus of Indian restaurants. As Chinese and Thai food accompanies boiled rice, this accompanies all the various Indian curries. Almost all Indian food lovers enjoy this recipe and I hope you too.

Normally or I should say almost as an unwritten rule of Indian Cuisine, the rice used in this recipe is the famous Basmati Rice which has a unique flavor and long grains. This rice is now very popular although
it’s a bit expensive than any other rice. There is a huge worldwide demand for this rice and India is the main exporter. The specialty of this rice, besides the flavor and aroma is that with right quantity of water and also right way of cooking, the grains of the cooked rice stay soft and separated.In short soft but not sticky.
Although it’s easier to cook in a rice cooker, many don’t have it and so
I am giving the recipe for cooking in a regular cooking pot.

Service for four.

Ingredients:-

1 ½ cup of Basmati Rice. You may use any rice, preferably long grains.
Wash it. Drain the water completely and set it aside in a bowl.
½ tsp. of Salt
1 cup Green Peas
1 medium size grated Onion.
1 tbsp. grated Ginger
2 Bay leaves (optional)
4 whole Cloves
4 whole Cardamoms
¼ tsp. of Cinnamon powder
5 strands of Saffron (optional). You may use 2-3 drops of yellow color instead.
6 tbsp. of Corn Oil
3 ½ cup of warm water.

For Garnishing:- 6-8 roasted, salted cashew nuts (Optional).

Cooking Directions:-

Have a cooking pot which could hold 4 quarts of water. Add the oil and put it on medium heat.

Add Bay leaves ans stir fry till they turn light brown. About 1/2 a minute.

Add whole cloves and cardamoms and stir fry them until they start dancing in the hot oil.

Add grated onion and stir fry for a minute or until it turns light brown.

Add grated ginger and stir fry for ½ a minute and add the washed rice. Stir fry for a minute so that the oil gets evenly quoted on all the grains. Add cinnamon powder and stir couple of times. Add water and salt.
Stir well. Put the heat on high. When the water starts boiling add Saffron or yellow color and peas. Stir to avoid rice grains sticking at the inside bottom of the pot. Lower the heat to medium and let it boil for another 3-4 minutes. Stir couple of times. Cover the pot with the lid and put the heat at lowest.
Let it cook on lowest heat for 10-12 minutes. Turn off the heat and let it stay covered for another 2 minutes. Open the lid. You will see most of the peas on the top of the rice. Check a few grains of cooked rice to see if they are soft and cooked. If not leave the pot covered for another couple of minutes. Take out in a serving bowl in such a way that the peas are evenly mixed with the rice. Garnish with cashew nuts as shown in the picture.

Serve with any curry of your choice. It tastes nice with plain yogurt.