Beetroot Pulao

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with great food, good company & gaining deals!

For me, Thanksgiving '12 was not really thankful but handsful! If you think I grabbed quite 'some' deals on black friday, you are wrong! VJ had to travel away from home for few weeks and that got me handful with two 'ever-active' kids! Believe it or not, it took me two full days to sink into reality that VJ will not be around to help with the kids!

On the brighter side, this is the only time when I get to try variety of recipes, anything & everything that is NOT elaborate (or) south-Indian ;) And, the very first day after VJ left, I tried this one-pot meal that I have been wanting to try for long! Here it is - a healthy, complete & colorful meal that can be easily put up in no time.

My 'fantasy-obsessed' daughter thought it was very fancy to eat a "purple" pulao and she absolutely loved it! The recipe is very mild when it comes to heat, but you can always bump up green chillies/red chilli powder if you are a heat lover!

Printable Recipe

Basic Info
Complexity - Medium
Prep time - 25 mins
Cook time - 40 mins
Serves - 4

Ingredients
Grated Beetroot - 1.5 cups, packed (from 2 medium-sized beets)
Raw basmati rice -  1.5 cups

Onion - 1 no (Medium sized, finely chopped)
Green chilli - 1 no (slit vertically)
Ginger - 1 inch (grated)
Garlic - 2 cloves (minced)
Shelled Edamame / Peas - 1/4 cup

Coconut milk - 1 cup

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Sambar powder - 1 tsp, replace it with red chilli powder
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste

Mint leaves - 2 tbsp, finely chopped
Cilantro - 2 tbsp, finely chopped

Ghee - 1 tbsp
Oil - 2 tbsp

Method

Wash rice and soak in 2 cups of water.

In a thick bottomed saucepan, heat 2 tbsp of oil. When hot, fry bay leaf, cinnamon, cardamom pods, cloves until fragrant. To this, add onion, green chilli, grated ginger/garlic and saute until onion turns soft and translucent. Add grated beetroot, turmeric powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, sambar powder and saute until the raw smell of beets are gone.

Drain rice from water, add to the pan and saute for a min or two until rice turns crisp. Take care not to burn the rice.

Lastly, add shelled edamame, coconut milk, 2.25 cups of water, chopped mint & cilantro, ghee, required amount of salt and give it a good mix. When the water starts to boil and as the rice starts to expand, close the saucepan with a lid and let it simmer on low heat. After 10-15 mins, switch off the stove. Leave the saucepan undisturbed for another 20 mins. Do not open the lid in-between.

Fluff up the rice with a fork and garnish with roasted cashews. Hot & tasty pulao is ready to be served! Cool cucumber raitha with chips makes a perfect side for the pulao!