Kala Channa Pulao

I was always not sure of the difference between Pulao and a variety vegetable rice. Lately I have come to understand that Pulao is usually made by cooking the vegetable along with the rice mostly directly in the cooker and many have coconut milk added to it.

When I saw a recipe for Kala Channa and Capsicum rice I decided to pick it for my Bloghop week. I did not quite make it as per the recipe. But loved the idea of channa in a pulao and we all enjoyed it very much.



Ingredients

Kala Channa 1 cup
Basmati Rice 2 cups
Jeera 1 tsp
Saunf 1 tsp
Bay Leaf 1
Clove 2
Cardamom 2
Star Anise 2
Coconut milk 2 cups
Onion 1
Tomato 2

Oil and salt to taste

Method of Preparation

1. Soak Channa overnight and cook with enough water in a pressure cooker. Drain the water and save it.

2. In a pressure cooker, heat some oil. Add jeera, saunf, bay leaf, clove, cardamom, star anise and saute till it sizzles.

3. Add sliced onions and saute till it starts to brown.

4. Add finely chopped tomatoes and saute till it is cooked.

5. Add the rice (uncooked) and mix well.

6. My rice cooks in 1:2 ratio of rice to water. So for the 2 cups of rice, I used 2 cups of coconut milk and there was 1 cup of channa water. So I included 1 cup of water. If you have enough channa water, then no need for water.

7. Stir well and pressure cook for 2 whistles. Open and fork it a little to make sure it does not get set or mushed.

Serve with raita or just enjoy as is.

Linking this to Lets Cook - Protein Rich Food Event by Radhika