Spicy Vegetable Pilau With Cucumber Raita Food

CUCUMBER RAITA RECIPE

Steps:

• Rinse cucumber and peel it. Chop to tiny bite size pieces (about ¼ to ½ inch). If you prefer you may even grate it. Grated cucumbers let out moisture so make sure you use only greek yogurt if you want to grate them. Otherwise cucumber raita becomes runny.
• Also fine chop coriander and mint leaves (optional).
• Deseed the green chilli and chop. (optional)
• Whisk chilled yogurt in a large mixing bowl.
• Add chopped cucumber, green chilies, coriander leaves, mint leaves and salt. Mix all of them.
• Taste test and add more salt if needed. Drizzle cumin powder, ground black pepper & chaat masala (optional).
• Serve cucumber raita as a side in an Indian meal. It is usually eaten with Vegetable biryani or chicken biryani.
• Cucumber raita is best served fresh but can be chilled for a few hours.

PULAO RECIPE | VEG PULAO

Steps:

• Rinse rice till the water runs clear of starch and become transparent while rinsing.
• Soak the rice in enough water for 30 minutes. Drain all the water and keep the soaked rice aside.
• Rinse, peel and chop the vegetables.
• Crush chopped ginger, garlic and green chillies to a paste in a mortar-pestle or grind them in a small mixer or grinder with a bit of water.
• In a deep thick bottomed pot or pan, heat ghee or oil and fry all the whole spices mentioned above, till the oil becomes fragrant and the spices splutter.
• Add the onions and saute them till golden. Saute the onions on a low to medium-low flame and stir often for uniform browning.
• Add the ginger-garlic-green chili paste and saute for some seconds till their raw aroma goes away.
• Add the tomatoes and saute for 2 to 3 minutes on a low to medium-low flame.
• Add all the chopped veggies and saute again for 1 to 2 minutes on a low to medium-low flame.
• Add rice and saute gently for 1 to 2 minutes on a low or medium-low flame, so that the rice gets well coated with the oil.
• Add water and lemon juice. Mix and stir.
• Season with salt and stir again.
• Cover tightly and let the rice cook on a low flame, till the water is absorbed and the rice is well cooked.
• Check in between a few times to check if the water is enough. Depending on the quality of rice, you may need to add less or more water. With a fork too, you can gently stir the rice without breaking the rice grains.
• Once the rice grains are cooked, fluff and let the rice stand for 5 minutes.
• Serve pulao hot with some side salad, sliced onion & lemon wedges or raita. You can also garnish it with chopped coriander or mint leaves or fried cashews or fried onions.

SPICY VEGETABLE PILAU WITH CUCUMBER RAITA

Steps:

• Chop the garlic for the pilau and set aside. Finely grate the garlic for the raita and put in a bowl. Heat the oil for the pilau in a large open pan, and fry the onion and ginger for 5 mins until softened. Stir in the whole and ground spices, and cook for a few secs to release their aromas. Add the chilli, red pepper and freekeh, stir briefly, then tip in the stock and sultanas. Simmer for 15 mins until the freekeh is tender but still nutty, adding the chopped garlic for the final 2 mins. The stock should have reduced and absorbed into the freekeh now.
• Meanwhile, finish the raita by stirring the yogurt, cucumber and mint into the grated garlic.
• When the pilau is cooked, stir in the coriander and cashews, and serve with the raita.