Peas and Tofu Pulao

Winter heralds fresh vegetables, cauliflower, carrots, spinach and the freshest of peas.

Pretty and green all in a row!!

We all love peas especially if it means you get to eat them straight from the pods.

Generally we buy peas just for eating. So the tender ones get eaten and I am left with the others not so tender. This is especially true if Akanksha and her father sit to do the job.

I love peas to make the delicious peas pulao. I start out to make to pulao I want it restaurant style, rice white and the peas the only colour, but every time I make it I use coriander in my ginger garlic paste and end up with a greenish pulao which though I love is not what I am aiming at. Let me stress that no one complains in fact we all enjoy it but I am dissatisfied.

Last time when I made the same error I had a long talk with myself where after a lot of talking I have decided that though I love the herb to distraction even that needs some space.

Ingredients:

2 cups basmati rice

2 tblspn ghee

1 teaspoon jeera

3 cloves

4 pepper

1 stick cinnamon

2 tsp ginger garlic paste

2 onions, chopped fine

2 cups peas

100 grms tofu (plain not the silken one)

Salt

Coriander to garnish

Method:
1. Wash and drain the rice completely.
2. Cut the tofu in cubes and on a non-stick tava fry them golden.

3. Since I generally grind coriander and garlic to make my weekly/fortnightly paste this time I ground ½ an onion (so that the mixer has no problem) with the ½ " ginger 8 cloves garlic.

4. Heat a pan add all the jeera, cloves, pepper, cinnamon and dry roast till you get a nice aroma.

5. Now add the ghee and let the spices sizzle a bit. Fry the onions till translucent.

6. Add the drained rice and fry in the pan till again you get an aroma.

7. Add 4 cups water or use my 'gauthi' method of checking the water as the level of water should be a bit above your first knuckle when the fingers are resting on the rice.

8. Add the salt and cook on low flame on gas.

9. When the water level comes down to about the level of the rice add the peas& tofu and mix with a fork carefully. ((This I do because we do not like our veggies cooked fully. You could add them with the rice if you prefer). Cover and let cook for about 4 minutes max.

10. Switch off the gas. Keep the pan covered. Do not open the cover for about 10 minutes. After 10 minutes remove the cover and fluff the rice with a fork.

11. Garnish with coriander. Serve hot with Tomato Saar.

Notes: Next time marinate the tofu in garlic, ginger & salt.

Try using ½ coconut milk and ½ water.
Make a pungent chutney may be coriander and pudina one to go with this.

Archana