Mild Tomato Pulao

Toss basmathi rice with spices, onions, tomatoes and roasted cashews for an aromatic and delicious pulao! This recipe is similar to my Tomato and peas bath except that I have skipped 2-3 ingredients which makes  a big difference in the taste.



Ingredients:

1. Basmati Rice-1 cup
2. Oil-3 tbsp
3. Ghee-1 tbsp
4. Cashews-12
5. Shahi Jeera-1 tsp
6. Cloves-4
7. Cinnamon-2 inch stick
8. Star anise-2
9. Ginger-Garlic paste-1 tbsp
10. Green chillies-2 slit into half(I have used red chillies here)
11. Onion sliced-1 cup
12. Salt
13. Chilli powder-1/4 tsp
14. Tomatoes chopped-1 (large)
15. Coriander leaves-to garnish

Method:
Soak rice for 15 minutes in water. Drain, cook it with 11/2 or 13/4 cups(depends on the rice) of water. Set aside.
Heat oil and ghee in a wide pan. Add ingredients 4 to 8. Saute for 10 seconds. Then add ginger garlic paste, chillies, onions and fry till they turn golden brown. Sprinkle some salt. Add chilli powder and tomato.
Fry till it turns soft. It is optional to add 1 tsp of finely chopped mint leaves and fry for a couple of minutes.
Gently mix cooked rice with the veggies. Add salt.
Garnish with coriander leaves.
Serve with raitha/plain curd/chips.

Oh I found fresh, beautiful red chillies at Farmers market and used them to garnish(just for the sake of making the picture look more colorful).

Another option is to fry the spices, onions and tomatoes till they turn soft and then cook this mixture and rice together in rice cooker till done.