Masoor Pulav

Masoor Pulao in Marathi

Time: 40 to 50 minutes
Serves: 3 to 4 persons

Ingredients:
:: To cook Rice ::
1 and 1/2 cup Basmati Rice
3 cups hot water
1 star anise, 2 bay leaves, 2 Cloves
1 tbsp Ghee
1/2 tsp salt
:: To make Masoor Gravy ::
1/2 cup Masoor
1 tbsp ghee
2 cardamoms, 2-3 black pepper
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chili powder (I used 1/2 tsp kashmiri red chilil powder for color and 1/2 tsp normal red chili powder for spiciness)
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp garlic paste
1/2 cup yogurt
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp garam masala
2 tbsp golden raisins, few cashews
salt to taste

Method:
1) Soak Masoor overnight or 7 to 8 hours in sufficient water. Pressure cook Masoor up-to 1 whistle without adding water (For details see tip below). Add little salt when pressure cooking.
2) Heat ghee into a pan. Add cardamom and black pepper. Saute for 10 seconds. Add turmeric powder, chili powder, and ginger garlic paste. Saute for 15 seconds. Add onion and saute till it becomes translucent.
3) Now add cooked Masoor and 1/2 cup water. Add little salt (remember- salt added while pressure cooking). Simmer for few minutes. Add garam masala, cumin-coriander powder, raisins, cashews. Check the taste and adjust the spices. Remove from the heat. gravy should be thick in consistency as we are going to add yogurt once it cools down.
4) Let the gravy cool down a bit. Add yogurt and whisk well. Add little salt if needed.
5) Soak basmati rice for 10 minutes into cold water. Then discard the water and keep the rice aside for 20 minutes.
6) Heat a medium saucepan. Add ghee and wait till it melts. Add star anise, bay leaves and cloves. Saute for 10 seconds. Now add rice. Saute continuously until rice becomes completely dry. You will also notice the changes in texture of rice.
7) Once rice is nicely roasted, add hot water and salt. Give a nice stir and let it boil uncovered over high heat. Turn the heat to low, the moment water on the surface disappears. Cover the pan and let the rice cook in steam until grains are almost done.
Let the rice sit for a while, because if we add gravy in hot rice, the grains are likely to brake.
8) Fluff the rice with a fork and mix in the gravy little by little. Mix well but gently.
9) Add some ghee. Cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes over low heat.
Serve hot with Raita

Tips:
1) Roasting rice over high heat for 6 to 8 minutes results in fluffy rice after cooking.
2) If you don’t have enough time for soaking, immerse the masoor in hot water for couple of hours.
3) Pressure cooking without adding water means - Add a cup of water at the bottom of pressure cooker and DO NOT add water in the steel container inside the pressure cooker. In this steel container we are going to put only soaked masoor.
4) To lessen the amount of ghee, use oil for making Gravy and skip adding ghee at the end.