Kashmiri Pulao Recipe

Kashmiri Pulao is a rich flavorful and mildly sweet rice dish from the beautiful Kashmir valley of India. In this traditional rice preparation, basmati rice is sauteed in clarified butter with aromatic spices and  cooked in saffron flavored milk and served , garnished with shallow fried dry fruits, fried onion and fresh fruits. Kashmiri pulao is very delicious one pot meal with an easy to follow recipe. I have added shallow fried cottage cheese (paneer) pieces also in the recipe apart from pomegranate seeds and chopped red apple to make the dish all the more nutritious and filling. Serve this kasmiri pulao as a side dish with some spicy gravy or just on its own.

                           

Once when we had gone out to dine , the curries we ordered were very spicy and my son could not take that heat, so we wanted to have a dish which could fill his tummy and was on a sweet side too. The waiter suggested us to try out the Kashmiri Pulao and we were glad we tried it. The Kashmiri pulao came in a beautiful handi , topped with fresh fruits ( pineapples, grapes and pomegranate), raisins and nuts and could appeal my little fussy eater to give it a try. The rice was very delicious and my son ate it with a spark in  his eyes. Since then i prepare this  Kashmiri pulao for my him occasionally but never got a chance to click pictures and post the recipe on the blog.

This month we had Kashmiri Cuisine as the theme on the Shhhhh Cooking Secretly Challenge, Facebook group. My partner for this challenge was my dear friend and fellow blogger Seema Doraiswamy. Seema blogs at mildlyindian . Do check out her lovely space where she shares her food experiments, secrets from her vegetarian kitchen, culinary journey, and  restaurant reviews.  Seema thoughfully gave me saffron and ginger as my secret ingredients and i cooked this flavorful and aromatic Kashmiri Pulao using the ingredients. In return i gave her yogurt and cardamom and she made a delicious Dodh Wangun using those ingredients.

Rice is the staple food of Kashmiris and is usually served with meat. Kashmiri food is mild in taste, and has liberal use of yogurt and spices like cloves, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom and fennel. Trademark of Kashmiri food is use of Saffron as seasoning and coloring agent. Traditionally ghee is used as a cooking medium in most of the dishes. I have Kashmiri Dum Aloo recipe already on my blog. So lets get started with the recipe of Kashmiri Pulao.

                                              

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 25 minutes

Servings: 2-3

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup basmati rice
• 1 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup cottage cheese (paneer) pieces
• 5-7 almonds
• 5-7 cashew nuts
• Fistful of raisins
• 2 large onions thinly sliced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 teaspoon caraway seeds ( shah jeera)
• 1 stick cinnamon 
• 1 black cardamom
• 2-3 green cardamom
• 2-3 cloves
• 2-3 black pepper corn
• Few strands of saffron
• 1/4 teaspoon dry ginger powder
• 1 teaspoon fennel powder
• 1 teaspoon sugar (optional)
• Few strands of saffron
• Salt to taste
• 1/4 cup pomegranate seeds for garnishing
• 1/4 cup chopped apples for garnishing
• 3 tablespoon ghee

Method:

1. Rinse the rice and soak it in enough water for 15-20 minutes. This step is optional but it certainly saves the cooking time. Also soak the saffron strands in 2 tablespoon of warm milk.

2. In a pan heat 2 tablespoon of ghee and fry the nuts and raisins until they turn golden in color. Remove and keep aside for garnishing. In the same ghee shallow fry the paneer pieces until golden brown from all sides. Remove and keep aside.

3. Add sliced onions to the wok with a pinch of salt and 1 teaspoon sugar and shallow fry for 2-3 minutes until the onions get caramelised. ( Actually the onion slices are deep fried until crispy , i have shallow fried in little ghee to cut down the calories).

4. Wipe the wok and add the remaining 1 tablespoon ghee to it. Heat it on medium flame. Now add the whole spices ( bay leaf, caraway seeds, cinnamon stick, black cardamom, green cardamom, cloves and black pepper corn) and fry them on low flame for few seconds. Next add the ginger powder and fennel seed powder and stir fry for few more seconds.

5. Stir in milk to the spices. Allow it to boil. Add the soaked and drained rice to the boiling milk followed by the saffron milk . Add salt to taste. Give a quick stir and allow the milk to boil .

6. Simmer and cover cook the rice until well cooked and no more liquid is left in the cooked rice.

7. Top the cooked rice with fried nuts and raisins, fried onions, paneer pieces and chopped apples and pomegranate seeds. Give a quick mix , taking care not to break the rice.

  

8. Serve the rice while warm as it is or with a spicy gravy of your choice.

  Recipe Notes:

• I have used pomegranate seeds and chopped red apples for garnishing the kashmiri pulao apart from shallow fried dry fruits, paneer pieces , onions and raisins . You may use fruits like pineapples and grapes as well if you like.
• The kashmiri pulao can be served as it is or can be paired with a spicy gravy dish of your choice.
• I have used dry ginger powder here, you may use grated ginger instead. Do not skip the fennel seed powder as it gives a distinct flavor and aroma to the rice.
• I have shallow fried the onion slices with pinch of salt and a teaspoon of sugar in less ghee to cut down the calories. You may deep fry the onion slices until crisp if you prefer.
• I have cooked the rice solely in milk. You may use milk and water in equal quantities if you prefer.

I hope you like this post and try out this flavorful and aromatic Kashmiri Pulao for yourself. If you do so, feel free to share your feed back to us in the comment section below. Follow us on  #Facebook  #Instagram ,  #Twitter and #Google+  for more recipes and new updates. 

For more flavorful rice recipes, do check out the following post from my blog

• Mint Pulao

                               

• Mushroom Pulao

                          

• Aloo Chutney Pulao

                         

• Vegetarian Broccoli Rice

                        

• Pulihora / South Indian Tamarind Rice

                       

• Masale Bhat

                       

• Pineapple Fried Rice

                          

• Schezwan Fried Riice

                         

• Soybean Chunk Fried Rice