Cooking show from India

Ingredients for pulao:

• ½ Cup green peas
• 1 Small potato, chopped
• 1 Large, or 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 1 Large onion, or 2 small onions, chopped
• ½ Cup chopped mint
• ½ Cup chopped cilantro
• 4-5 Green beans, chopped
• 1 Carrot, chopped
• 2-3 Green chili peppers (optional)
• 1 Lemon, sliced for garnish
• 1 T of ginger-garlic paste (1 ½ t. ginger and 1 ½ t. garlic, ﬁnely chopped or grated into a paste)
• 1 Cup coconut milk (optional)
• 2-3 T Vegetable oil (sunﬂower or olive oil is preferred)
• 1 T Ghee (optional—if omitting, use another T of oil)
• 1 Bay leaf
• 2 Cloves
• 1 Cinnamon stick
• 3 Cardamom pods
• ½ Cup cashews
• 1 ½ Cups long-grain basmati rice (or any white rice you have on hand)
• 1 Cup coconut milk (optional)
• 3 Cups water (if using coconut milk, only use 2 cups of water)
• 3 T sea salt
• Pickled fruit or vegetable for garnish (optional)

Ingredients for raita (yogurt and onion condiment):

• 2 T plain yogurt
• 1 small onion, ﬁnely sliced
• ½ tsp. salt

Directions:

1. Chop all the vegetables into small sizes: potato, green beans, carrots, onions, tomatoes. If using the green chilies, slit the chilies in half lengthwise. If you’d like it to be spicier, you can add a third chili. Set vegetables aside.
2. Rinse the rice and set aside.
3. In large pot over medium, heat oil and ghee.
4. Add cashews and fry until golden brown. When done, set the nuts aside.
5. Add spices to taste to the oil: cardamom, cumin, cinnamon, cloves, and bay leaves (recommendation is 2 small pieces of each).
6. As the spices start to burst, add 2/3 of the chopped onions. Fry them until they are slightly translucent, but make sure to not over fry.
7. Add mint leaves to the mixture and fry until soft.
8. Add ginger-garlic paste to the mixture and fry. Continuously stir so it doesn’t stick to the bottom.
9. Add tomatoes to the mixture and continue frying until they’re slightly mushy.
10. If you choose to use green chilies, add them at this stage and add a small bit of salt.
11. Add 1.5 cups of a mixture of the carrots, potatoes, peas, and green beans and sauté for a few minutes. (Use any combination of the vegetables, but it should equal 1.5 cups.) Close the lid to cook faster, but open frequently to stir so they do not stick to the bottom.
12. Add a little bit more salt. Then add the uncooked rice to the pulao and lightly stir.
13. Add 2 cups of water to the rice and vegetable mixture and continue cooking.
14. After a couple minutes, add coconut milk to the pulao. Cook on high for a few minutes and then reduce heat to low for 8 minutes. Be careful not to overcook, or the dish will be mushy.
15. While the pulao cooks, add yogurt to the last bit of chopped onions and mix well. Just before serving, add a little bit of salt to the yogurt mixture.
16. After 8 minutes, turn oﬀ heat for the pulau. Let stand with the lid on for about 8 more minutes. Carefully remove lid, stir the pulao one more time, and plate it. Add the yogurt salad to the side. Garnish with the lemon, chopped cilantro, and cashews. In India, they also garnish with pickled mango, but you can garnish with any pickled fruit or vegetable.
17. Enjoy!