Mint Pulav/ Mint Pulao / Pudhina Pulav/ Pudina Pulav

Mint Pulav/ Mint Pulao / Pudhina Pulav/ Pudina Pulav

Mint Leaves also called as "Pudina" is one of the oldest medicinal herb grown around the world. Its widely used in many range of dishes in Indian Cuisine and its an essential ingredient in many food items. Looking at its medicinal benefits, mint is the best cleanser for the entire body and blood. Crushed mint leaves whiten the teeth and fight against bad breath. Though we regularly stock atleast a bunch of Mint Leaves in the kitchen, we mostly exhaust the bunch by adding them in all of our regular food items.  This time, I exclusively got 2 additional bunches mainly to make my favorite Mint Pulao, which i had forgotten for a while. Nice Aroma was emanating from the Kitchen while making the Mint Pulao, which in turn triggered the tongue to taste it immediately...Definitely an awesome pick for any gathering, parties..

Photo Courtesy by Wiki

Ingredients

Basmati Rice - 3 Cups

Mint Leaves Bunch / Pudina Bunch - 2 Big or 3 Medium

Green Chillies - 5 Big

Oil - 2 tbsp

Melted Butter or Ghee - 3 tsp

Salt - To Taste

Sugar - 1/2 tsp

Red Onion shredded - 1/2 cup

Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tbsp

Cinnamon Sticks - 2 Big

Lavang/ Cloves - 5 or 6

Marathi Moggu - 1

Bay Leaves - 4 or 5

Cardamom Seeds / Elachi - 4 or 5

Cashew Nuts - 1 Handful

Red Potato / Golden Potato cubes - 1 Cup

Method

1. Wash the Pudina leaves and make a smooth paste of Pudina and green chillies using a mixer grinder and keep them ready. Soak the Basmati Rice in water while starting the process.
2. In the big cooking pan ( I used a big non-stick pan), add ghee and oil first. When its heated, add the cinnamon stick, lavang, marathi moggu, cardamom seeds and fry them for a minute.
3. Add the ginger garlic paste next and fry them till the raw smell goes off. Next add the onions and fry them to golden brown. After that, add the grounded paste of mint leaves and green chillies to the pan and fry them for 2-3 minutes. A nice aroma would start filling the kitchen now...
4. Finally add the cashew nuts, potato cubes, bay leaves to the contents and fry them again for a minute.
5. Add 6 cups of water to the cooking pan / vessel, required amount of salt, 1/2 tsp of sugar and mix them well. Allow them to cook on  a low flame directly. When its completely cooked, the cooked mint rice would nicely come up till the rim of the vessel.
6. Switch off the flame and allow them to settle down for a while.
7. Serve this with a side of any raita and enjoy...A healthy mixed rice treat with excellent aroma for us.!!!

Tips / Variations

If its for a special party, add little more ghee and make it rich. Instead of cooking directly on the vessel, you can transfer the contents to an electric rice cooker and cook them outside too...

Wheat Rava Upma / Godhuma Rava Upma - Healthy Treat

Wheat Rava Upma / Godhuma Rava Upma - Healthy Treat

Broken Wheat Upma, a healthy Breakfast / Dinner contains low-fat, low-calorie, high dietary fiber and rich in Iron, Protein and vitamins. I always have a tendency of adding more veggies into any dish I make and this happens in this case too...and I could never make a normal, plain upma with just onion. As much as possible, I try to inject more energy into it. Due to its health benefits, I prefer this upma than the regular sooji/rava upma. Broken wheat upma is best suited for diabetic people and people who are interested in weight loss.

Ingredients

Broken Wheat ( Dalia ) -  2 Cups

Red Onion - 1/2 Big

Carrots - 1 Medium cut into small cubes

Peas - 1 Handful

Potato - 1 Medium cut into small cubes

Beans - 10 to 12 cut into small size

Salt - To Taste

Hing/Asafoetida - 1 Dash

Mustard Seeds - 3 tsp

Urad Dal / Ulutham Paruppu / Minna Pappu - 2 tsp

Channa Dal / Kadalai Paruppu / Senaga pappu - 2 tsp

Curry Leaves - 1 Stem

Green Chillies - 3 medium

Grated Ginger - 1 tbsp or finely cut ginger - 1 tbsp

Oil - 1 tbsp

Method

• Wash and cut the vegetables as desired. Wash the dalia and drain it thoroughly and keep it ready.
• In the frying pan, add oil first. When it gets heated, add Hing, Mustard Seeds, Urad Dal, Channa Dal, green chillies, curry leaves, Ginger in order.
• Next add the red onion pieces and fry them for 2-3 minutes. Add all the other veggies into the pan and allow them to cook with the lid on for 2-3 minutes.
• Add the broken wheat / dalia now into the pan and mix them well.
• Fry all the contents in the pan for another 2-3 minutes.
• Add required amount of salt and 4 cups of water into the pan and cover it with the lid.
• Let them cook on a low flame till the upma gets cooked completely.
• When its done, serve this with a spicy chutney.

Tips/Variations

• If you don't like a pasty upma, try to add only 2 cups of water for 1 cup of Broken Wheat ( thicker variety ). Some varieties may need only 1.5 cups of water for a cup of Dalia. Check your variety and add water accordingly.
• Instead of peas, you can add groundnuts / peanuts in the upma. I love to have some crunchy groundnuts in the middle..