serves
2
prep
15 minutes
cook
25 minutes
difficulty
Easy
serves
2
people
preparation
15
minutes
cooking
25
minutes
difficulty
Easy
level
Ingredients
- 200 g (1 cup) aged basmati rice
- 20 g dried morels, soaked in 1 cup warm water for 30 minutes
- 4 stems three-cornered garlic, flowers reserved (or garlic chives)
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1½ tsp cumin seeds
- 2 small bay leaves
- ½ star anise
- 2 green cardamom pods
- 1 black cardamom pod
- ¼ cinnamon stick
- 1½ tsp turmeric powder
- 2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
- salt, to taste
Raita
- 200 g plain Greek–style yoghurt
- 5 lilly pillies, halved
- 10 g desert limes
Standing time: 30 minutes
Instructions
- Wash the rice once, drain and set aside. Drain the soaked morels and reserve the soaking water. Cut the three–cornered garlic into 4-cm pieces.
- Heat the vegetable oil in a heavy–based saucepan over medium–high heat. Add the bay leaves and whole spices and stir for a few seconds or until fragrant. Add the three-cornered garlic, turmeric, chilli powder, morels and a pinch of salt. Stir for 2-3 minutes or until the morels are well-coated in the spice mixture. Add the reserved morel soaking water and bring to a simmer. Add the basmati rice and stir until well combined. Cover and simmer over low heat for 15-20 minutes or until the rice has absorbed all of the liquid and is tender.
- Meanwhile, for the raita, place the yoghurt in a serving dish, season with salt and top with the lilly pillies and desert limes. Garnish the pulao with any reserved garlic flowers.
Delve into the diversity of Indian cuisine with India Unplated, Thursdays 8pm on SBS Food.
Photography by Andrew Dorn.
Cook's Notes
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.
