Winters are my favorite, mostly because of the fresh harvest and options at the local vegetable vendor. I love buying my vegetables on winter days and the options spoil me with choices. A recent visit to my local vegetable vendor exposed me to a variety of greens, from some beautiful spinach, peas, beans and more! Common among all these vegetables was, of course, the color green.
So I thought to myself, what if I bring all these elements together and make a delicious and healthy pulao? This thought made me so excited that I rushed back home with my stock and managed to prepare this moreish spinach pulao.
A note before you start, for the spinach puree that I have used in this recipe, I have blanched it for about two minutes in boiling water, and then ground it to a fine paste.
Here is the recipe.
Preparation time – 30 minutes
Cook time – 45 minutes
Serves – 3-4 people
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
- 1 bay leaf
- 30 g cashews
- 30 g soaked raisins
- 2 medium onions, thinly sliced
- 2 cardamoms
- 2 cloves
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 20 g ginger garlic paste
- 50 g fresh peas
- 50 g green beans, chopped
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 green chilies, chopped
- Salt to taste
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 200 g soaked basmati rice
- 150 g spinach puree
- 500 ml water
Directions
- Heat the ghee or clarified butter in one large pot.
- Add the bay leaf, cardamom, cinnamon, and cloves and fry for a few seconds in the hot ghee till you can smell the aroma.
- Next, add the cashews and the soaked raisins. Again, fry it for about ten seconds to give a slightly brown layer to the cashews.
- Add the diced onions to this and fry till they begin to caramelize.
- Throw in the ginger garlic paste and fry it with the onions till the raw smell disappears.
- Once the onion is cooked, add the peas and the chopped green beans. Stir well with the onion.
- For the touch of heat, add some chopped green chilies as well.
- An Indian pulao is usually sweet, so add a teaspoon of sugar to this and fry.
- Season with salt and cumin powder.
- Next, add soaked basmati rice to this vegetable mixture and stir well.
- Now it’s time for the magic ingredient – the spinach puree. Add the puree to the rice and mix it all up gently, till it all comes together.
- Pour in some water and give it a gentle stir.
- Cover and cook for about 20 minutes and let it rest for another 20 minutes after that.
- Serve with raita or plain curd.
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I am always on a lookout for one pot meals… This spinack pulao looks wonderful and so nutritious.. Will try soon..❤️
Thank you, Arpita! I hope you try it and like it 🙂