CARROT PANEER PULAO

Hello everyone 

Some times we don't feel like to prepare a huge dinner/lunch spread but also don't want to serve khichadi or Dalia then this one is a perfect fuss free one pot healthy meal for everyone in your family, as kids too love this tempting combo of paneer carrots and rice. 

It is so healthy and easy recipe that anyone can try without fail, at the same time super yummy too. You should must give it a try if you too have fussy eaters like mine, believe me you will never regret.

Stepwise recipe is given below, hope you will like it and definitely give it a try.

CARROT PANEER PULAO

Serves: 4-5

Time: 45 mins

Ingredients 

2 medium carrots, grated 

2 cup rice (preferably basmati or aged rice)

1 cup paneer (cottage cheese), cut in small pieces

2 medium onion, finely chopped  

1 1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste 

2-3 green chillies, slitted 

8-10 cashews, broken in half ( lengthwise), optional (I skipped)

1 tsp ghee or butter

1 1/2 tsp oil

1/2 lemon

Salt to taste

For tempering:

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

4 cloves

4 green cardamom 

1 inch piece cinnamon stick

3-4 whole dry red chillies 

Method:

First of all wash rice and soak it in 2 cup water for 20 mins. 

Now Heat ghee and oil in a thick bottomed vessel, add cashews and fry till little golden , remove on a tissue paper then fry paneer till golden,sprinkle some salt and toss so that it will not taste bland in rice and keep them aside for later use.

 Now add all spices of tempering section in the same oil and saute till everything crackled and become aromatic. Be careful while sautéing so not to burn spices. Now add green chillies and chopped onions, saute till nice golden then add ginger garlic paste and saute for 2 mins. 

Add grated carrots  and cook stirring occasionally till its water gets evaporated and it gets cooked. Now add rice and fry for 2-3 mins .

Then add remaining water of rice and 2 cups of more water i.e. Double the amount of rice. Add salt and squeeze juice of 1/2 lemon in it. Let it cook at high flame, when it starts looking little dry on top then lower the flame and cover with lid. Let it simmer for 5 mins. Then switch off the flame.

 Let it sit for 5- 10 mins covered, then open the lid and add fried cashews and paneer to it and mix with light hand gently. Again rest it for 10 mins then serve.

 Your easy, yummy and super healthy rice is ready to be served with gravy dish or with simple raita. It taste best even if taken as it is, it doesn't need any thing else to go with. A simple one pot meal loved by everyone.

I soaked rice in exact 2 cup of water to spare me with any indecision of how much water to be added for cooking rice. As we know 2:1 water rice ratio is needed to cook nice fluffy rice, but when we soak it then it already absorb some water and then our ratio gets disturb. So avoid this situation I soaked in exact amount of water and then used the same in cooking too. This will ensure you to get nicely cooked fluffy rice. 

You can use any other veggies also as per your choice and availability. But then taste may change.

Hope you all will like this super healthy and yummy rice dish, so please drop down your valuable comments and suggestions, they meant a lot to me.

Happy cooking....