Kashmiri Pulao with a South Indian touch

I love Pineapple. I love it so much that you will find it in my fridge anytime. I grab a pineapple every time I go to Costco. They go for 3$ each which is super cheap.

This is Mrs. Chitra Viswanathan's(She posts recipes in http://www.indusladies.com. Her recipes are always a hit and I am a big fan of her)recipe. I feel it has a South Indian touch because the spice powder used here is similar to vangi bath powder. I liked it because the the taste was very mild and not overpowering. Here is how I made Kashmiri Pulao-

Ingredients:
Basmathi Rice-1 cup uncooked
Salt
Onion chopped-1 cup
Peas-a handful
Oil-1 tbsp
Ghee-2 tbsp
Pineapple pieces chopped-1 cup

1. To fry in a drop of oil or ghee and grind:
cloves-4
Jeera-1tsp
Channa dhal-1 tsp
Dhaniya(Coriander seeds)-1 tsp
Red chillis-3

2. To fry in 1/2 tsp of oil and set aside:
Chopped almonds-2 tsp
Cashews-1 tsp
Raisins(I used dark colored ones)-2 tbsp or as you wish
Star anise-1
Cinnamon-1

Method:
Soak basmathi rice in water for 1/2 hour and cook till done and set aside.
In a drop of oil, fry ingredients mentioned under number 1 and grind to a fine powder.
Again, fry the ingredients mentioned under number 2 and set aside.
In remaining oil and ghee, fry chopped onions till golden brown. Add frozen peas and salt and cook for another 2 minutes.
Mix everything together(onions-peas mixture, ground powder, fried nuts and raisins) with rice adding some salt.
Finally add pineapple pieces and serve hot.

Variation:If you don't want to use South Indian spice powder mentioned under number 1, you may omit it. Instead fry green chilli and ginger garlic paste in oil/ghee along with onions- peas mixture and cook rice and saffron together. Rest of the procedure is the same. But I haven't tried it.

I was happy with the way Kashmiri Pulao turned out!




Sending this to Srivalli's Rice mela.