Kashmiri Pulav

Introduction:

"Kashmiri Pulav" is another great dish in party cooking list. It's a very nice and aromatic preparation of rice with whole indisn spices and cottage cheese topped with pineapple and dryfruits.

Ingredients:

Basmati rice: 1.5 cup

Water: 4.5 cups+ for soaking the rice

Cottage cheese(Paneer): 100 gm(cut into small cubes)

Onions: 2 medium sized(sliced)

Bay leaf: 2

Cinnamon: 1 inch stick

Saffron: 1/2 tsp

Green cardamon: 5

Cloves:5

Black peppercorn(Kali mirch): 5-6

Salt: to taste

Cumin seeds: 1 tsp

Almonds: 6-7(broken into half)

Cashewnuts: 6-7(broken into half)

Dry grapes(Kismis): 6-7

Milk: 1 tsp(For diluting saffron)

Pineapple: 1/2 cup (Chopped)

Ghee: 3 tsp+ for frying the paneer

Red Cherries: for decoration

Preparation time: 20 mins

Cooking time: 15 mins

Serves for: 2 persons

Method:

Soak the rice in water for half an hour. Put the 4.5 cups of water to boil. Add bay leaf, cinnamon, green cardamon, cloves,salt and black peppercorns to it. Let it boil on high flame. After one boil, simmer the flame. Cover it with a lid and let it cook for 10 mins. Meanwhile Heat some ghee in a pan for frying the paneer. Fry the paneer cubes till golden brown.Fry the onion slice in it. You can also fry the alomnds and cashewnuts in it.Keep the fried items aside.

Strain the water stock after 10 minutes of cooking. This stock will be used to cook the rice.

Heat ghee in pan for cooking the rice. Add cumin seeds to it. Now add soaked rice and the water stock to it. Cover it and let it cook on medium flame. Check every 5 mins. When the rice is almost done, gently add the diluted saffron, cashewnuts, almonds, kishmish, paneer and onion slices to it. Mix it gently.Cook for another 2 minutes. Adjust the salt.

Just before serving add pineapples to it. Garnish it with red canned cherries.

TIPS:

1. While cooking the rice, if you feel the water is not sufficient, then add some wore water.

2. Add pineapple just before serving and in hot rice. Do not cook the pineapple. It may loose it's taste.

3. You can also add any fruit of your choice.

4. This pulav is not spicy. But if you like to have spicy rice, then add green chilli, instead of red chilli powder.

5. You can add dryfruits of your choice in this recipe.