Post Diwali, after loads of huffing puffing, it was time to relax and enjoy my Son’s Winter vacation.With no morning chaos, no hurries & no worries of packing tiffins and budging kiddie, Life was bliss !
But as we all know, happiness is short lived, so no sooner I started enjoying lazy afternoons, my son announced his boredom and with the demands of some more computer games (some ?? ), few more outings and some more window shopping in malls. Apart from visits to park and making home his cricket ground, he complained of unavailability of amusements .
So when my sister and her family (in laws) planned a picnic to Mumbai, I couldn’t help but scream with Joy ! It was a memorable day, since kids ( 4 of them) enjoyed the rides in Trains, bus, rickshaws and taxis all in one day. We actually traveled for more hours as compared to time spend on picnic spots like Gateway of India and Juhu beach
As a person I had been to those places many times. While strolling at a beach, hand in hand with spouse, feeling rejuvenated by fresh breeze might be a wonderful experience in the past, but Jumping and inviting glares from people for freaking shrieks as the waves approach you, laughing and giggling with kids is altogether different genre of happiness .
Though we packed many snacks when we started our picnic, by the time we reached last spot i.e Juhu beach, our food supplies were as exhausted as we . And trust me, when I say that we binged upon the sweets and savories ,chaats and faloodas, served at multiple coulourful, brightly lit stalls at Juhu beach.I personally cursed the Paani puri there, coz despite of being world famous as Bombay chaat , the paanipuris at juhu beach were not even close to the taste of those that we get here, near our home.The paani was hot ( here we get refreshingly cool paani) and the hot ragda in paanipuri spoiled my appetite .
The noodles were yummy, so was falooda but the Tawa Pulao was truly a winner. In my attempt to keep the kids occupied before the snacks arrive, I failed to watch how the stall owner, made the pulao. But a morsel of that yummy preparation and I knew what will be the next agenda in my kitchen .We were in great hurry to catch the train, so I couldn’t wait to watch the next round of making that pulao .
So the next day it has to be my experimental day and following my instincts along with the lingering taste of last night’s binge , I tried to make the pulao, sans Tawa (griddle). As it is not possible to make that quantity of rice on regular griddle, so I made it in pan. So you can also rename this recipe as PAN PULAO 😉
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 2
- Basmati rice (I used regular non basmati variety) 1 cup
- Tomato 1
- Green chillies 2-3
- Onion 1
- Chopped vegetables like a capsicum,a carrot, few beans,few florets of cauliflower,few shelled and boiled peas etc
- Khada Garam masala like a Tejpatta, few whole black peppers, 1 Star aniseed, 2 Cloves etc
- Ginger crushed
- Salt as per taste
- Turmeric powder ¼ tsp
- Oil 2 tsp (or less)
- Pick and rinse rice for few times with water, till water runs clear
- Soak the rice for 15 minutes if using basmati , otherwise for half hour
- Now boil the rice with water and salt and cook it until almost done.But beware not to overcook it
- Let the rice cool off completely.You can spread the cooked rice in colander or big plate
- Meanwhile in a pan or kadai (whichever bigger in size) take some oil, heat it, and add whole garam masala.
- Keep stirring it for few seconds, then add chopped onion and crushed ginger
- Saute till onion turns translucent
- Add chopped vegetables EXCLUDING CAPSICUM (this is important, since we need capsicum to be crunchy as it gives altogether different flavour to final dish as compared to cooked capsicum)
- Saute them, add some salt( be cautious since there is already salt in rice) , turmeric powder, chopped green chillies, tomato and let the vegetables cook a bit (do not over cook them)
- If the whole mixture appears to be very dry, then sprinkle some water ( a spoon or two) and mix
- Now add boiled (and cooled) rice and mix very gently so as not to break the grains.Now add chopped capsicum
- Let it cook on DUM. Keep a griddle (yahooo ... i used tawa even if for name sake) on flame and place the pan over it, put the flame on sim,cover the pan with a plate and keep some heavy utensil above it
- As the rice absorbs the flavors of vegetables and spices, your Tawa pulao is getting ready to be dressed up with fresh coriander leaves, mint leaves ,few drops of lemon juice and to be served with crunchy papads/ curd / Raita or any vegetable Curry .
This steaming hot pulao is reaching Srivalli of Cooking4all seasons ,who is hosting yet another event, RIce Mela
Hi Alka ji,
Tried it twice…. everyone liked it very much…. secont time I also used mushroom… and the experiment was good enough….. Thanks for the wonderful receipe….
Hello, I think this is the coollest wordpress powered blog I`ve seen. I really like your theme
found your site on del.icio.us today and really liked it.. i bookmarked it and will be back to check it out some more later ..
It is quite obvious that you take a certain amount of pride in your work and I find that quite refreshing in today’s world.
What is captcha code?, pls provide me captcha code codes or plugin, Thanks in advance.
Generally I do not post on blogs, but I would like to say that this post really forced me to do so! really nice post.
lovely recipe. lovely pic 🙂
absolutely delicious .. am gonna try this
Dear Alka,
Nice receipe for working mothers.
Keep sending more.
PS Anyone can give receipe for DUM ALOO, something fast and quick.
Regards
Resham
Hey, how have you been?
tawa pulao looks really tsty.
Thats lovely alka..and great to know you all had a great time too!
arrey please dont remind me of paani puri, atleast you are getting some we have to make our own all the time. Love the color of the Pulao, very good
Pulao looks sooo tempting. A nice clikc too. yuuuummmmy.
Pulao looks yummy, will try it this way. Aaaa..h the picnic sounds so fun.
Alka, you brought the beach street food scene before our eyes. Whenever we visit a beach here there is something missing and that is the food. As for the pulao that is something I can make right here 🙂
Regarding the “stir fried chapati” you can leave the eggs out. I added eggs because the kids like it. Crumble a bit of paneer that would work as well.
Yummy pulao. Feel like having right now. Come and collect the award for my blog dear.
Wowwwwwwwww ..pulao makes me hungry…love the colour too…
pulao looks deleciousssss alka
Good to know aht you had a wonderful picnic. I love this pulao and beautiful colour too
Lovely click, Nice color of the rice…what is in a name. Tawa or pan pulao. I am drooling over it. Hope you had a nice time.
Alka, i hate you 😛 now where do i goto eat paani puri, chats, and other street foods… simple pleasures like these are what i miss the most 🙂
and tawa, oops, pan pulao loos delicious 🙂
Lovely dish which should be eaten as soon as it prepared. NO REHEATING.
Try charcoal “DUM”, where a glowing charcoal is kept in a small wati in centre of Pulao and 1 tsp of pure ghee is poured over coal and covered immediately? Those who are allergic to pure ghee please do not try this?
I use small green elaichi (1) in khada masala. Adding few drops of lemon juice to rice before boiling gives the rice grain the “sense of separation”, when cooked
Another interesting street food recipe. With the DUM cooking, the pulao would have tasted very flavorful. Thanks for sharing this yummy pulao.