Name: Rajasthani Kabuli Pulao
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 70 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients: ¾ cup Basmati Rice, cooked until 90% done and cooled; 2 slice White Bread, cut into small cubes; ½ cup Boiled Potato, cubed; ¼ cup Brown Onion, fried crisp (Birista); ½ cup Indian-Style Yogurt, thick, whisked; 1 tbsp Cashews, fried; 1 tbsp Raisins, fried; ½ tsp Garam Masala; ½ tsp Red Chilli Powder; ⅛ cup Mint Leaves, chopped; 2 tbsp Ghee, divided; ¾ tsp Salt, divided

1 hr 10 mintotal

50 min hands-on20 min hands-off

Prep 20 min · Cook 30 min

Serves: 2
Difficulty: Medium
Spice: High

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Method

Heat a little ghee in a skillet until hot. Fry the cubed potatoes until they are deeply golden all over. Lift them out and set aside. Add the bread cubes to the same fat and fry them until they are crisp, golden croutons. Lift them out and set aside.
Make the yogurt mixture: in a bowl, whisk the thick curd hard with the red chilli powder, garam masala, salt and a handful of fresh mint leaves.
Assemble: take a heavy pot. Spread a thin layer of the spiced yogurt over the base, which stops the rice catching. Spread the 90%-cooked basmati over it as the first layer.
Add the next layer: scatter half the fried potatoes, the crisp bread croutons, the crushed fried onions (birista) and the fried nuts and fruit over the rice.
Spoon over some of the spiced yogurt. Then build a second set of layers the same way: more rice, then the rest of the potatoes, croutons, onions and nuts, and the rest of the yogurt.
Finalize the apex topology: Crown the assembly with any residual birista, an excessive payload of fresh mint, and a decadent, tactical drizzle of liquefied ghee. Impose a completely hermetic seal over the pot.
Set the sealed pot on a preheated heavy tawa to spread the heat. Cook on dum over low heat for 10-15 minutes, so the rice takes up the yogurt and finishes cooking without the bread going soggy.
10–15 min

How to tell it's done

A fragrant, layered rice dish with hidden pockets of tangy, part-soaked bread, soft potato, and the sharp, brittle snap of roasted nuts.

Getting it right

Tip

What makes Jodhpur's kabuli distinctive is the fried bread. Fry the cubes properly and they take up the spiced yogurt without falling apart, keeping a soft chew inside.

What to serve it with

A self-contained culinary monolith demanding center stage. Requires zero auxiliary combat support, functioning flawlessly when escorted merely by a highly chilled, minimalist Boondi Raita.

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Ingredients