by Huma

Vegetable Polao in three easy steps

Overview

First, lets start with getting our terminology right between Biryani and Polao. A lot of people use the term Biryani when they are really cooking Polao…

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Vegetable Polau

This was the best description I could come up with: In Biryani, the rice is parboiled in water and then drained, then the meat or vegetables are layered within the parboiled rice. Whereas in Pulao, the water or stock is completely absorbed by the rice and meat or vegetables in the dish. A quick way to tell if you are eating Biryani or Polao is if the rice is looks uniformly colored then it is most likely Polao and if you see the rice grains in different shades then it definitely Biryani. I use the words most likely because typically in Biryani you do add color/saffron but you can skip it, so sometimes it may be difficult to tell by looking at it. Another method would be if you see layering of meat or vegetables then it would be Biryani and if you see it all evenly distributed then its Polao. Here are the individual steps: Step 1: Fry onions and spices Step 2: Fry the vegetables with spices Step 3: Cook Rice

Ingredients

Step 1 – Fry onions and spices

1 onion, thinly sliced 2 tbsp oil 2 cardamom 8 whole cloves 4 bay leaf 1″ cinnamon stick 1 black cardamom (bari elachi) 8 black pepper 1/2 tsp cumin seeds 1/2 tsp fennel seeds 1 tbsp minced garlic 1/2 tbsp minced ginger Fry the onion in oil. Once lightly golden brown, add the above spices and garlic and ginger and fry for 1-2 minutes

Step 2 – Fry the vegetables with spices

2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground paprika
1/4 tsp ground garam masala
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp red pepper
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup carrots (approx 2 carrots) chopped
1 cup frozen veggies
1 potato
Mix all the spices together in a bowl. Add the vegetables to the onion mix and fry them with half the spices for few minutes, save the rest of the spices for step 3

Step 3 – Cook Rice

2 cup basmati rice plus additional water for soaking the rice
3 cup of water or vegetable stock for cooking
Soak the rice in water about 30 minutes, drain the water. Add the rice and the saved spices to the vegetable mixture. Add the 3 cup of water or stock and cook on medium heat until you don’t see any remaining water. Leave it on the lowest possible setting for 20 minutes for it to steam.