Vegetable Kuska (Vegetable Pulao)

My husband is quite accommodative when it comes to food. He rarely complains about food. Some times when a dish turns out average or bad, I will be mad at whipping out such poor fare. Even if it tastes very average he will say it not too bad and all that and try to pep me up.. I always tell him that he is lucky I am not the husband and he the wife. I like my food to be perfect tasting.. Not so much when I cook (as I know my limitations), but definitely when I eat. So I am sure to give my 'wife' a hard time if I were the husband :-)

The downside of my husband's nature is that he rarely asks for anything specific to be prepared as he enjoys them all. I cannot ask him questions like - do you like this version of the curry better or the one I made last time. He will look at me with the expression that could be read as - are they different?

So I was in for a big surprise when I made a pulao this week and my husband said it tastes a lot like Kuska made in his college canteen. I first thought he was making fun of me cause neither have I heard of a dish by that name nor did I think anything made in college canteen qualifies as good.. I was in for a bigger surprise when I googled the word Kuska and found it was an actual dish and not a nickname his hostel guys used. And the recipe was almost exactly that I used... Enjoy this simple flavourful rice with some side dish or raita.



Ingredients

Basmati Rice 3 cups
Vegetables (I used frozen mix veg) 4.5 cups
Bay Leaf 2
Clove 4
Cardamom 3
Cinnamon 2 inch piece
Star Anise 4
Fennel Seeds 1 tbsp
Cumin/Jeera 1 tbsp
Onion 2 sliced + 1/2 for garnish
Garlic 4 pods (make into paste)
Cashews and raisins for garnish
Coconut milk 1/2 cup.

Oil and salt to taste

Method of Preparation

1. Heat a little oil in a pressure cooker. Add the whole spices bay leaf, clove, cardamom, cinnamon, star anise. fennel seeds and cumin seeds.

2. When it sizzles, add the sliced onions and garlic paste. Saute till it starts to brown.

3. Add the vegetables and saute for a couple more minutes.

4. Add the rice and saute for 2 more minutes.

5. Add coconut milk and salt. Mix well. You can use a little more coconut milk. I did not have more than this. Otherwise I would have used 3/4 cup.

6. Add water enough to cook the rice. If you are using 1:1.5 water, then 3 cups will need 4.5 cups of water. But as I used 1/2 cup of liquid in coconut milk, I reduced the water to 4 cups. Adjust the water according to the coconut milk quantity used and the rice type.

7. Give it all a nice stir and cook with whistle on for 2 whistles.

8. In the mean time, heat some oil in a pan. Add the cashews and roast them. Keep aside. Add the raisins to the same pan. Roast and keep aside. Finally add the onions and roast them till browned and keep aside. You can use ghee as well for this step.

9. Open the pressure cooker and then give it a little stir with a fork. Add the cashews, raisins and onions.

Serve with side dish or raita