Name: Shahi Navratan Pulao
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 70 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients: ¾ cup Basmati Rice, soaked and drained; ½ cup Mixed Vegetables, carrots, beans, peas, boiled; 50 g Paneer, cut into tiny cubes and fried; 1 tbsp Cashews, fried; 1 tbsp Almonds, blanched and peeled; 1 tbsp Raisins, fried until puffed; ¼ cup Pineapple, cut into small chunks; ⅛ cup Pomegranate Seeds, for garnish; ½ pinch Saffron; 1½ tbsp Milk, warm, to soak saffron; 2 tbsp Ghee; 2 Green Cardamom; ½ tsp Salt, to taste; 1¼ cup Water

1 hr 10 mintotal

50 min hands-on20 min hands-off

Prep 20 min · Cook 30 min

Serves: 2
Difficulty: Medium
Spice: Mild

Add to your week

Method

Heat a little ghee in a skillet over high heat. Fry the small paneer cubes, the cashews and the raisins until they turn pale golden. Lift them out and set them aside.
In a heavy pot, heat the remaining ghee. Add the green cardamoms and let them sizzle to release their aroma. Add the drained basmati and toast it gently for 2 minutes.
2 min
Add the pre-boiled vegetables, the measured water and the salt to the pan. Bring it to a rapid boil.
Turn the heat right down. Spoon the saffron milk evenly over the surface of the simmering rice.
Cover the pot tightly with a heavy lid. Cook on dum over low heat for 12-15 minutes, until the liquid is fully absorbed and the grains are cooked but still separate.
12–15 min
Turn off the heat. Lift the lid and scatter the reserved fried paneer, toasted nuts, raisins and raw pineapple over the steaming rice. Cover it again straight away and leave it to rest for 10 minutes.
10 min
Just before serving, use a fork to lift the rice very gently so the fruit and nuts are mixed through. Finish with a scattering of bright red pomegranate seeds.

How to tell it's done

Long, separate grains of buttery, saffron-stained rice holding crunchy nuts, firm cubes of paneer and bursts of juicy fresh fruit.

Getting it right

Tip

Keep the fruit, the pineapple and pomegranate, back until the very end. Cooking it with the rice breaks it down into a sweet mush.

What to serve it with

A rich main course for a festive meal. Serve it with a spicy, creamy paneer butter masala, or a mild raita, to set against the pulao's gentle sweetness.

Pudina Pulao (Mint Rice)

Pudina pulao cooks rice with a mint and coriander paste, fresh rather than rich.

35 minvegan

Punjabi Kala Chana Pulao

Kala chana pulao cooks rice with black chickpeas, which hold their shape among the grains.

16 hr 30 minvegan

Punjabi Mutton Keema Pulao

Keema pulao cooks minced meat into the rice from the start, so the fat carries through every grain.

1 hr 15 minnon vegetarian

Punjabi Wadiyan Pulao

Wadiyan pulao cooks rice with crumbled Amritsari wadi, which perfumes the whole pot.

1 hrvegan

Rajasthani Banjara Gosht Pulao

Banjara gosht pulao cooks mutton with whole dried chillies into a rice dish from the Rajasthani nomadic tradition.

1 hr 15 minnon vegetarian

Rajasthani Gatta Pulao

Gatta pulao cooks rice with fried gram flour dumplings, a Rajasthani way of eating well without vegetables.

1 hr 10 minvegetarian

Ingredients