This dish hails from the north of India and is an aromatic combination of rice, peas and bay leaves.
Bay leaves pretty much make the difference between a tasty pulao and a rice-and-peas dish. Especially if you are vegan and refuse to use ghee or butter to sautee your onions.
Bay leaves are as integral to pulao as salt. The only ingredient that is probably more integral to pulao than bay leaves is, well, rice. Haha.
Here I am going to add a disclaimer. A popular school of thought is that pulao is derived from the Middle Eastern rice dish, pilaf. It came to India several centuries ago, and it spread from India to the Caribbean. The school of thought also believes that pilaf or pulao is not just a dish—it is also a cooking method where the rice is cooked along with the spices so that it absorbs the flavours of the spices.
I don’t have the patience for it.
What I have here is a recipe that’s way faster to make and yet full of flavour. It uses rice cooked separately and then mixed with the spices. If you want to be authentic and you have the time to spare, you can replace the cooked rice with uncooked rice and three times the water. Let the rice cook while soaked in the spices.
Similarly, for the green peas. If you are using frozen peas, it doesn’t matter much as it cooks pretty quickly. If you are using fresh shelled peas, then you may want to consider whether you want to cook the peas first separately and then use them or if you want to cook them with the spices.
If you opt for time and convenience (and veganism) over authenticity, then follow the recipe below.
This recipe is part of our bay leaf series, which also includes Paella from Spain and Jollof Rice from West Africa.
Do try out the Quick-and-easy-Vegan-Pulao recipe below and let us know how it turns out in the comments!
Quick and Easy Vegan Pulao recipe
Ingredients:
200 grams (1 cup) cooked rice (or 1 cup uncooked rice with three cups of water)
2 bay leaves
150 gms frozen peas, thawed
½ tsp cumin
1 inch cinnamon stick
4 green cardamom elaichi
4 cloves
½ onion chopped and sauteed
Salt
2 tsp oil
8 cashews
½ cup water
Method:
Heat oil in a skillet. Add cumin, cashews, cloves, green cardamoms, cinnamon, bay leaves and onion. Sautee on medium heat for 2-3 minutes.
Add peas, salt and water and let the whole mixture cook.
Once the peas are cooked, add rice and mix well.
Cover the skillet with its lid and let the rice heat up for a couple of minutes.
Once it is done, turn off the stove and plate the pulao. Optionally, garnish with more fried cashews.
Enjoy it warm!
The Vegetarians' Kitchen 