There are many days when I am in no mood for cooking. Those are specifically the days when kids are dying to eat and come with various requests. This week I am doing the theme of ‘Quick Dishes’. This means the dishes have to be made in less than 30 minutes. My weekdays are very busy in the evenings with kids’ activities. So, if I do not get the dinner planned and prepped during the day, it becomes tough to get something decent on the table.I do not work outside of the house and hence take up many volunteering hours at my kid’s school, library, and so on. On those days, I make one quick dish that works well with just pickles or yogurt. This particular time, I had made this rice as a part of Haryana Thali but I have still not posted. Talking about thali, I have learned that with proper planning, it is very easy to make a complete meal. Working on a couple of things at one time and getting them going helps cut down on time. In this instance, once we get the tempering done for the rice, the rice just has to cook. At that time we can start working on making the subzi. I love making complete meals from different states and regions. This gives me an idea of how people eat and how locally grown ingredients are utilized. Haryana, being famous for its milk products has many dishes that have dairy products in them. My menu for the thali with this Jeera Pulao was – Also, check out this classic combo dish that I have made from Haryana Preparation time – 5 minutes plus 10 minutes of soaking timeCooking time – 20 minutesDifficulty level – easy
Ingredients to make Jeera Pulao – Serves 4 as a part of the meal or 2
Basmati rice – 1 cup Ghee / Nei – 1 tbsp Cumin seeds / jeeragam – 1 tsp Cinnamon – ½ inch stick Bay leaf – 1 large Salt – to taste Cashews and raisins – a few (optional)
Step by step process
Wash the rice and soak it in water for about 10 minutes. Drain the rice well and keep it aside.
In a heavy bottom pan, heat the ghee. I have used ghee to make the rice as it makes it more flavorful, but you could use oil instead. Add the cumin seeds, cinnamon stick, and bay leaf and let it fry for about 20 seconds or until aromatic. If using cashews and raisins, add them at this stage and let it fry until golden brown.
Add the drained rice to the pan and gently stir. Make sure you don’t break the rice when stirring.
Add the water needed to cook the rice and mix well. Add salt needed. I used about 2 cups of water to cook the rice.
At this stage, you could transfer the jeera rice to a cooker to cook. I cooked the rice in the pan.
Let the water come to a boil and then simmer the flame and cover the pan. Cook covered for about 10 minutes. Check to see if the rice is cooked. Fluff with a fork and let it rest for about 5 minutes before serving.
Serve the Jeera Pulao with subzi or raita and pickle.
Other Pulao Recipes
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