LUCKY PAATI PULAV

LUCKY  PAATI  PULAV ;

All my grandkids especially Anu's second daughter Trisha, we call her Tichu affectionately,  love the Pulav that I make VERY MUCH. It is a very simple recipe, no grinding this and that, not many ingredients that we don't have in our masala box. Very simple one. See it in my blog, enjoy making it and definitely all your kids love it as it is not at all very spicy!!!
INGREDIENTS:
1.Basumati Rice ( any brand)                          2 cups
2.Water                                                         4 cups
3.All non watery vegetables like
beans, peas,carrot,cauliflower,
onion,4 pearls of garlic, small potato(not big one
 because the small one will not
get mashed when you cook )
All cut into uniform medium bits like cubes      3 cups.
4.Spices-- 4 cloves, one inch cinnamon
 broken into 1/2 inch pieces, cardamom--3
saunf 1 tsp, jeera 1 tsp,marati moggu 2
Just one bay leaf broken into 2 or 3 pieces
5.One small cube butter
6.Refined oil                                                  2 tbsn
7. Green chilli (split into 2)                              4
8.Ginger ground                                             1 tsp
9.Salt to taste
10.Garam masala powder and
red chilli powder                                           1/2 tsp each
11. Lime juice                                               1 tsp
12.Corriander and curry leaves                      1 handful
13. Most important Panner small cube            1 cup

PROCEDURE:
1.First wash the basumati rice just once and soak it in 4 cups of water.
2.Let it soak till you finish cutting the vegetables and get ready all spices.
3.After the ingredients are ready and within hand reach,
put a big non stick tawa or pan on stove with suitable lid.
Remember no pressure cooker.
4.Put butter in the tawa, in medium heat fry the panner cubes and
if you want it to be more luxurious a small cup of cashew and raisin,
fry them and take it out and keep aside.
5.Now add the oil to the butter, add all the spices(heat should be medium)
 add onion bits and garlic pearls cut into bits, saute a little.
6. Now add all vegetables,chilli, ginger ground, saute them for full five minutes.
7. Now drain the water from the soaked rice into the tawa to the vegetables to get cooked in that water, leaving the rice alone.
8. Cover the tawa or pan as you call it with a suitable lid
adding salt to the vegetables.
9. When the vegetables are half cooked, add the soaked rice to it,
keep the flame to medium high and close.
10. Remember the water is just the 4 cups with which you soaked the rice.
11. It will be nearly one hour soaking till you finish all other chores of
cutting vegetables and all.
12. Just in 10 to 15 minutes, all the water in the pulav will get absorbed, then simmer
 the stove and close the lid.
13. Let it be in sim for 5 minutes.
14. Switch off the stove.
15. Now add lime juice, fried panner, cashew, raisin
with curry and coriander leaves., masala and chilli powder.
16. Mix all very gently with a wooden spoon  when it cools half way or
else the rice will be broken
17.Just don't hesitate, it is all once in a while, so add one big tbsn of ghee
and mix well.
18. Serve with onion carrot raitha, don't season the raitha.
19.Add plenty of coriander bits to raitha, of course with enough salt.
The recipe seems very long, absolutely not, the time consumption is more for
cutting vegetables and collecting the ingredients.
Cooking process is very easy.
TRY AND ENJOY.