Tawa Pulav

Tawa pulao recipe  posting an easy rice recipe which is a popular mumbai street food. tawa pulao as the name suggests is made on tawa/tava – a flat concave shaped pan used in indian cooking for making chapatis, roasting as well as shallow frying.

Tawa pulao goes best with yogurt, raita or an onion-lemon salad or vegetable salad (kachumber). also accompany a roasted papad and a lime or mango pickle by the side.

Ingredients (measuring cup used, 1 cup = 250 ml)
A.)for cooking the rice:
1.)1 cup basmati rice or long grained rice
2.)4 cups of water for cooking the rice
3.)2 to 3 drops of oil
4.)salt as required

B.)for the tawa masala:
1.)1 medium capsicum/green bell pepper, chopped
2.)2 large tomatoes - 150 gms, chopped
3.)1 medium onion - 50 gms, chopped
4.)½ inch ginger/adrak + 2-3 garlic/lahsun , made into a paste in a mortar-pestle or 1 tsp ginger garlic paste
5.)¼ tsp red chili powder/lal mirch powder or add as required
6.)¼ tsp turmeric powder/haldi
7.)2 tsp pav bhaji masala or add as required
8.)½ tsp cumin seeds/jeera
9.)2 tbsp butter or oil or half-half of both
10.)200gm Paneer chopped into cubes
11.)1 medium potato, chopped
12.)½ cup green peas/matar, fresh or frozen
13.)½ tsp lemon juice or as required
14.)a few chopped coriander leaves (dhania patta) or parsley
15.)salt as required

Method:
A.)preparing the rice:
1.)rinse the rice grains till the water runs clear of starch. rinsing for a while, you will come to a stage when the water will become transparent during the rinse. if there is starch in the water, then the rice becomes sticky.

2.)soak the rice in enough water for 20-30 mins. drain and then add the rice to a pot.
pour 4 cups water in the rice. add salt and few drops of oil.
stir.

3.)cover and cook the rice till the rice grains are cooked well.
the rice grains should be separate also cooked well.

4.)if the water begins to froth pushing the lid, then remove the lid or partly cover the pot with lid and cook the rice.
don't cook the rice too much or make them mushy. this will spoil the texture of the pulao.

5.)in a strainer, add the cooked rice and let all the water drain away.
gently fluff the rice with a fork.
once all the steam has passed from the rice, cover the rice with a lid so that the rice grains on top don't dry out.
let the rice cool and you can proceed with the rest of the recipe.

B.)For the tawa masala:
1.)steam the  potato and green peas till all of them are cooked well in a steamer, pan or pressure cooker.

2.)Peel and chop the potatoes & keep aside.

3.)In a pan or kadai/wok melt the butter. add the cumin and fry them till they get browned.add the finely chopped onions and saute till translucent.

4.)Add the ginger garlic paste and saute till the raw aroma goes away then add the finely chopped tomatoes and capsicum/bell pepper.

5.)Stir and add all the spice powders - turmeric, red chili powder and pav bhaji masala.

6.)Stir again and saute the whole mixture till you see butter releasing from the sides.

7.)Add the chopped potato, paneer cubes and peas. sprinkle salt and stir.

8.)Add the cooked basmati rice and gently mix the veggies with the rice.
garnish with coriander leaves and sprinkle some lemon juice on the tava pulao.

9.)Serve tava pulao hot with onion tomato raita or cucumber raita or plain yogurt accompanied with papad and pickle.