Gajjaran Jo Pulao

It gladdens my heart in winter to see the vegetable vendors plying carts laden with fresh vegetables of all the colours of the rainbow- the plump aubergines, the juicy red tomatoes, the emerald greens, the red and orange carrots, the pure white radishes, the blushing white and purple turnips – I want to eat all of them. Indeed, I have to stop myself from buying all the vegetables at one go.

I find novel ways to sneak vegetables in every dish possible so that the family gets the maximum amount of nutrition possible without giving them a chance to refuse any . So I add them in soups ( who knows which vegetable went into it once it is pureed), gravies ( same principle), pizza sauces (cabbage, bottle gourd and tomatoes), parathas, theplas, rotis, pickles, salads, pulao, and even desserts. I am so obsessed about making optimum use of the rich bounty of vegetables in this season that I make a list of various ways I can use a particular vegetable.

Fresh red carrots, a winter specialty, find their way in my menu as soup, salad, in the main dish as a hero or with other vegetables as a side dish, a dessert (gajjaran jo halwo-duh!), as a filling in theplas, parathas or sandwiches (a double layered one with the first layer of grated carrot and cream cheese with black pepper powder and the second one with grated apples and cream cheese- they are so delicious that the kids wolf them down in no time- great for picnics too), pickles (check out Sindhi Aari – a carrot pickle ) and my favourite, gajjaran jo pulao – carrot pulao.

The rich orange grated carrot and the smooth green peas provide a contrast of colours and texture that appeal to the visual sense. Each shred of the grated carrot looks like a strand of saffron paired with each grain of rice. The tantalising fragrance of the carrots, the Basmati rice and the garam masala that wafts in the house while making the pulao leaves everyone salivating. As I said, I have a soft corner for gajjaran jo pulao. Incidentally, this is not a Sindhi dish, but finds itself on the Sindhi Khazana blogsite because of my partiality towards it.

Let’s jump into the recipe without further ado.

Recipe for Gajjaran Jo Pulao (Serves 4)

Ingredients

Basmati Rice – 250 gm (any rice will do in a pinch)

500 gm grated carrots (the hero of the dish)

Peas – 200 gm

2 medium -sized onions sliced

4 -5 garlic pods crushed

2- 3 chillies chopped

1 1/2 tsp jeera powder

1 tsp garam masala

2-3 bay leaves

Salt to taste

Oil

Method

1. Wash the rice well and set it aside.
2. Take 4 cups of water in a vessel and heat it. Set it aside.
3. Meanwhile, heat oil in a separate vessel. Add crushed garlic and saute till it turns pink. Don’t burn it. Add sliced onions. Saute till the onions turn pink.
4. Add chillies, grated carrots and jeera powder. Cook the mixture till the raw smell of the carrots disappears.
5. Add peas, garam masala, bay leaves and salt. Stir and add the rice. Pour the hot water over the rice. Stir the mixture and let it cook.
6. Once the water dries up and the rice and peas seem to be on the verge of being done, stir the rice with the handle of the cooking spoon to fluff it up, cover the vessel, lower the gas flame and place a griddle under the vessel. In case the rice is pretty uncooked, heat a cup of water and add it to the rice. Then perform the above steps.
7. Let the rice cook on a gentle heat till done.
8. Serve the rice with tomato curry (tomatoes cooked in onions) or dahi curry.

Jyoti Mulchandani

Ahmedabad