Onion Pulao with corn and peas

Let’s just call this an accident that tasted right!

I was going for the lazy Pulao and thought it would be a nice touch to add deep brown fried onions. So i went about the usual procedure and added the onions and let them brown completely and then added the rice and sealed the pressure cooker. I did not think ahead and realise that the browned onions will give off their colour to the rice in the cooking process! The end result was this slightly caramelised rice that tasted exceptionally ‘onion-y’! I love it, and felt that this was worth logging in.

Onion Pulao with corn and peas Serves 2 – 3

You will be needing

-2 cups of basmati rice
-2-3 cloves
-2 green cardamom pods
-1 large bay leaf
-1 large stick of cinnamon
-1 onion cut finely lengthwise
-2 tbsp vegetable oil
-juice of one lime
-Water, for soaking the rice. For every cup of basmati rice, use 1 1/2 cups of water.
-a handful of frozen peas
-a handful of frozen sweet corn
kernels  ( The frozen peas and corn are permanent residents of my
freezer. We stock them all year around!)

Note: The peas and corn are optional. I just love them in almost everything!

Method

-Make sure you read these tips to get the perfectly cooked rice.
-Heat oil in a pressure cooker.
-Add the cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and bay leaf and wait for the cracking to stop.
-On low heat, add the onions and stir them around every few minutes till they turn deep brown.
-Add the rice and stir around
-Add the water that the rice was soaking in. Make sure that you stick to the prescribed measurements.
-Add the lime juice. This prevents rice from sticking to each other, plus makes the rice tangy and less bland.
-Add salt. The rule is, after adding salt, the water must taste slightly saltier than you want the Pulao to be.
-Close the pressure cooker and follow the instructions to get perfectly cooked rice (in a pressure cooker).
For those using an electric cooker, follow the instructions provided by the manufacturer.

Cook the peas and corn separately. The corn just needs to be steamed. I cook them in a microwave steamer, put the peas in the water and in the steamer place the corn. This way, all the flavours are kept together. The water used to cook the peas, I use to cook the rice. No wastage of flavours!
In a separate pan, melt a tablespoon of butter and add the cooked peas and corn. Stir around for a few minutes till the peas and corn absorb all the butter. Sprinkle over the Pulao just before serving and treat yourself to a buttery burst of flavour in every mouthful! I stumbled on this method last Easter (see Lazy Pulao)  and loved it so much that I now purposefully do it just for the heck of it!

OR

You can just follow the usual procedure and add the frozen peas and corn to the rice and cook them together. I just feel that this robs the corn and peas their natural juices because all the fluids mingle and cook together in the cooker and the sweetness of these vegetables, although incorporated into the rice, still doesn’t feel the same. Once in a while I follow the ‘butter’ version as a treat.