Methi Pulao is made so frequently at our household; mum makes it pretty frequently for lunch on Sundays. Methi/Fenugreek leaves have innumerable benefits and consuming them on a frequent basis is supposed to cool your stomach, aid in digestion and also help reduce cholesterol. These leaves often have a bitter taste, but are packed with flavour. Dried Methi leaves or Kasuri Methi is used to flavour many restaurant-style gravies as it imparts a beautiful aroma, enhancing the taste of the dish.
This recipe dates to about four or five years ago, when I first asked my mom to try Methi Pulao. She wanted me to look up the recipe online (which I did), only to do her own thing ultimately š It turned out so well that we made it almost every few days and never got bored of it. All you need is Methi, along with a few bare essentials from your kitchen. This is a one pot dish, which means you can also add additional veggies, sprouts, millets, etc. to make it a lot healthier. Read on for the recipe!
Ingredients
- Fresh Methi/Fenugreek Leaves- about 2 cups, washed and cut
- Basmati Rice- 1 cup, washed and soaked for 30 minutes
- Onions- 1 big, sliced lengthwise
- Tomatoes- 2 big, chopped into medium-sized cubes
- Garlic- about 10-12 pods, roughly chopped
- Green chillies- 3-4, sliced lengthwise
- Coriander powder- 2 tsp
- Red Chilli Powder (Kashmiri Lal Mirch)- 1 tsp
- Turmeric Powder- 1/4 tsp
- Salt, to taste
To Temper:
- Oil- about 4-5 tsp
- Cardamom/Elaichi- 1 pod, broken
- Cinnamon- 1
- Bay leaves/Pulao leaves- 1 or 2
- Ghee- 1 tbsp
Method
- Prep all your ingredients- wash and cut methi leaves, slice onions and green chillies, chop your garlic and tomatoes. Wash your rice until the water runs clean, and soak it in enough water for about 30 minutes.
- Heat oil in a pressure pan. Add bay leaves, followed by the cardamom and cinnamon. Saute for a few seconds. Makes sure the heat is on medium throughout.
- Add the garlic and green chillies, cook them until the garlic turns slightly brown.
- Then, add your onions (I used shallots for this recipe because I ran out of big onions. Nevertheless, it turned out pretty yummy ;)), cook them until slightly translucent.
- Add the chopped tomatoes, saute them for a few seconds and add turmeric, red chilli and coriander powders (I blended some fresh coriander seeds with water and added to this). Cook until the tomatoes turn slightly mushy.
- Add your Methi leaves, cook for a couple more minutes. Then, add your rice after discarding the water.
- Now, add about 1.5 cups of water (sometimes 2, depending on the brand of rice used. Refer to instructions on the cover). Add salt to taste and bring to a boil.
- Close the lid of the cooker and cook for exactly one whistle. Let it sit for about 10 minutes or until the pressure releases fully by itself. Your Methi Pulao will be perfectly cooked with separate grains!
- Now, and add a dollop of ghee on top and mix well, ensuring not to break the grains. Serve hot with a Raita of your choice.
- I served it with a basic Tomato-Coriander Raita for lunch one afternoon. Recipe here (tweak it to what you have in hand).
TIPS AND TWEAKS
- Make sure to soak your Basmati rice for about 15-20 minutes; this will ensure faster cooking. Even if you are pressed for time, make sure to soak your rice first before making other preps. This will give it atleast 10 minutes of soaking time.
- Be generous with the oil you are using for cooking, as this ensures the grains are separate and moist especially since this is a pressure cooker recipe.
- Adding ghee is optional, however, it imparts a nice flavour and ties the dish together.
- You can make this in a pot instead of a pressure cooker; all you have to do is cook for about 15-20 mins in medium flame. Add more water if required in batches of 100 ml. Switch off the flame and give it a standing time of about 10 minutes so that all the remaining water gets absorbed.
I hope you will enjoy this recipe as much as I did while making it š Let us know how it turned out!
a burst of flavor 