Cookbook:Kashmiri Pulao

| Rice Recipes

This very fancy Kashmiri pulao, or Kashmiri Pallao, is from the Northern Indian state of Kashmir. Although it is a frozen region high in the Himalayas, Kashmir lies along the ancient overland trade routes between India and Central Asia, and the cuisine is famous for using a huge assortment of nuts and dried fruits from all over Central and Western Asia.

Ingredients

 * 3 tablespoons ghee or butter
 * 5 cloves
 * 4 pods green cardamom
 * 1 cinnamon tree leaf (or substitute 2 bay leaves)
 * 1 small onion, sliced thin
 * 1 ½ teaspoons ginger-garlic paste
 * 2 green chillies, split lengthwise
 * 1 pinch of salt
 * 3–4 strands saffron
 * 1 tablespoon milk
 * ½ kilogram basmati or other long-grained rice, cooked and drained
 * 100 grams dried dates, pitted and sliced thin
 * 50 grams white raisins
 * 50 grams cashew nuts
 * 50 grams pistachio nuts
 * 50 grams almonds, blanched and diced

Procedure

 * 1) Heat ghee or butter in a large wide pan or wok.
 * 2) Add the cloves, cardamom, and cinnamon tree leaf.
 * 3) Add the chopped onion, and fry until it just begins to turn brown.
 * 4) Add ginger-garlic paste and chillies and fry for about 1 minute before tossing in all of the dried fruits and nuts.
 * 5) Add salt to taste.
 * 6) Turn the flame down to low.
 * 7) Soak the strands of saffron in milk, mixing until the milk turns orange.
 * 8) Pour the cooked rice into the pan and sprinkle the saffron-milk on top.
 * 9) Stir very carefully so as not to break or mash up the rice grains, mixing the flavourings and saffron colour in uniformly and heating the rice.
 * 10) Mix in dried fruits and nuts.
 * 11) Add more ghee according to your preference.
 * 12) Serve with a gravy such as the basic tomato gravy.

Notes, tips, and variations

 * Try adding paneer fried in ghee to the pulao.