Greens Pulao

A one course quick meal that comfortably fills your tummy when in a hurry. This healthy, spicy rice recipe, the core of Indian cuisine is a popular Mumbai street food, easy to cook, healthy to eat, with an assortment of greens and veggies of your choice and spice levels well within your control.

While types of pulao are countless, here is a recipe for a pulao kind that is gently spiced and gorgeously green. Wow…all green lights! Zoom ahead to the recipe!

Dish Type:  South/North Indian Rice Variety

Preparation Time:  30 min

Cooking time:  30 min

Serves:  5 persons

Ingredients

Basmati rice    1000 gms.

Palak soppu (Spinach) 1 bunch (medium size)

Menthya soppu (Methi leaves) 1 bunch (medium size)

Sabsige soppu (Dil leaves) 1 bunch (medium size)

Pudina soppu (Mint leaves) Few sprigs

Coriander leaves 1 cup

Ginger             ½ ” piece

Garlic              5 pods

Onion              4 nos.

Tomato            4 nos.

Lime                1 (small size)

Green chillies  3 nos.

Cinnamon        ½” piece

Cardamom      1 no.

Clove               1 no.

Raw coconut   1 cup (grated)

Turmeric         A pinch

Oil                   100 ml.

Salt to taste     4 tsps. approx. (1 tsp while frying onions and 3 tsps while frying rice)

Directions

Wash rice thoroughly. Drain the water and let rice stand for half an hour.

Wash all vegetables (except onions) in salt water. Drain the water.

Peel the skin of onions and ginger.

Chop all greens finely and keep aside.

Chop 2 onions and 2 tomatoes into thin slices and keep aside.

Grind the other 2 onions and tomatoes to a smooth paste and keep aside.

Grind ginger and garlic to a fine paste and keep aside.

Grind green chillies, raw grated coconut, cinnamon, cardamom and clove. Keep aside.

Keep water for boiling.

While water is boiling….

Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Put ginger-garlic paste, coconut paste and shallow fry for a while. Add onion-tomato paste and continue frying till the raw smell disappears.

Isn’t it half an hour since you washed basmati rice? Yes….then transfer this to the cooker, stir the grains well along with the other ingredients so that every rice grain is coated by the oil, then add chopped greens and resume frying for a little while more.

By now, water would have boiled….right? Now add this boiled water, salt and turmeric. Close the lid of the pressure cooker and relax till you hear 1 whistle. Switch off the burner.

While the pressure cooker cools down, you too can!

Ready to open the lid? Yes…. Tempted to toss it in? Ha.. wait a minute. Just 2 small steps left.

Squeeze lime, pour the juice on to the verdant looking Pulao. Garnish it if you wish with thoroughly washed, finely chopped mint leaves. Gently fluff the rice before serving.

Greens Palav is now ready. Feel the flavour and well, have a field day!

Tete – a – Tete:

The quantity of water and duration required for cooking rice varies with the type of rice used.

Other varieties of greens like Dantina soppu, Basale soppu, Harive soppu may also be used to prepare this pulao.

Recipe Contributor: Smt. Saraswathi