Simple Vegetable Pulao

Simple Vegetable pulao is slightly different variant of pulao from that I use to make earlier. All the vegetables and cashews were deep fried. Here, I have tried to avoid oil by substituting the process of deep-frying with blanching of vegetables. Also to make it a bit healthier, the quantity of vegetables used is more. (You may reduce the quantity of vegetables as per the taste). Also, since I have used ghee, it became dry after some time, so you may substitute it with oil and also add some fresh cream to make it moist.

Ingredients :
1 cup basmati rice
1/2 cup carrot julienne
5-6 cauliflower florets
1/2 cup green peas
10-15 french beans
1 cup onion cut lengthwise

Whole masala (1-2 bayleafs, 5-6 black peppercons, 3-4 cloves, 1 stick cinnamon)
2 tbspn pure ghee (You may substitute ghee with oil) + 1 tspn ghee for rice
1/2 cup cashews (soaked in water for 1 hour)
1-2 tspns Pulao Masala or Biryani Masala
1/4 tspn lemon juice
Water as required
Salt to taste


Preparation :

To cook rice :
Wash rice and keep it aside for 30 minutes
Add 2 cups of water to the rice
Along with water also add lemon juice, 1 tspn ghee, bayleafs, pepper, cloves, cinnamon stick and salt to the rice
Cook the rice in pressure cooker till 2-3 whistles
After cooking, spread it on a plate and allow it to cool
If required, pour some ghee over it to avoid sticking of rice

To cook vegetables :
Boil water in a pan
Add 1-2 tspns of salt and 1 tspn sugar
Then add french beans, carrot, green peas and cauliflower to the water
Boil it till it is cooked
Immediately pour cold water after cooking

To make Pulao:
Heat ghee in a pan
After heating add Pulao masala or biryani masala (I added whole spices due to non availability of powder)
Then add chopped onions and fry till it is light brown in colour
Then put soaked cashews in the pan and again saute till it changes colour
Then add all the blanched vegetables
Saute it for 2-3 minutes
At the end add cooked rice to the mixture
Stir it for few seconds
Add salt if required
Cover it with lid for 3-4 minutes
Serve hot with Dal Makhani or Kadhi



Notes:
Pulao turns dry after some time, hence re-heat the same after sprinkling some water before serving.

Stepwise pictures :