Pudina Rice

Mildly spiced, aromatic with some hint of ghee, flavored with tempering of whole spices makes pudina rice one of the best variety rice. This can be made in two variants, back in my childhood, my mom used to prepare pudina rice by making a paste of it and then saute it with some basic tempering, finally mixes the pudina chutney/thuvayal with cooked rice. The recipe which am posting today is more like a biryani, pressure cooked and a one pot meal. This has all the whole spices tempered, a paste made out of coriander leaves, mint leaves, cashews and coconut. Tomato and little bit of curd adds a slight tanginess to the rice. Basmati rice and seeraga samba rice works well for this recipe.

Ingredients

Seeraga Samba rice 1 cup

Onion 1 big thinly sliced

Tomato 1 finely chopped

Curd 2 tablespoon

Cinnamon 1

Cloves 2

Cardamom 1

Bay leaves 1

Fennel seeds 1 teaspoon

Oil 2 tablespoon

Ghee 1 tablespoon

Water 1.5 cups

Salt as needed

To Grind

Mint leaves 1 cup

Coriander leaves 1/4 cup

Ginger 1 inch piece

Garlic 5 cloves

Green chilly 2

Coconut 2 tablespoon grated

Cashew nut 5 to 6

How to Start?

Soak the seeraga samba rice for 30 minutes. Drain it after 30 minutes and set aside. Ground the masala given under " To Grind" into a smooth paste adding little water. Heat a pressure cooker. Add oil and ghee. Once it gets heated up, add cinnamon, bay leaves, cloves, cardamom and fennel seeds. Fry for 30 seconds, add the onions and fry until it turns translucent.

Now add the tomato, salt and fry for 2 minutes until the tomato turns mushy. Add the ground masala and fry for a minute on medium flame. Do not over fry as that will change the colour of the rice. Add curd and give it a mix. Now add the drained rice and fry for a minute. Add 1.5 cups of water and check for salt, add if needed. Give it a good mix. Once it starts boiling, close it and pressure cook it for 2 whistles.

Open it once the pressure gets released. Add some ghee on top and fluff the rice with fork.

Pudina rice is ready and this can be served with raita of your choice.

Note:

Diced potatoes and carrots can also be added for some extra kick.