Name: Tawa Pulao
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients: 2 cup Cooked Rice, basmati, completely cooled (leftover rice is best); ⅔ Onion, finely chopped; 1⅓ Tomato, finely chopped; ⅔ Green Bell Pepper, finely chopped; ⅓ cup Mixed Vegetables, carrots and peas, boiled; ⅔ tbsp Ginger-Garlic Paste; 1 tbsp Pav Bhaji Masala, the secret street food ingredient; ⅔ tsp Kashmiri Chili Powder, for that bright street-style red color; ⅔ tsp Cumin Seeds; 1⅓ tbsp Butter, essential for flavor; ⅔ tbsp Cooking Oil; ⅔ tsp Salt, to taste; ⅔ tbsp Lemon Juice; 1⅓ tbsp Coriander Leaves, chopped

30 mintotal

Prep 15 min · Cook 15 min

Serves: 2
Difficulty: Easy
Spice: Spicy

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Method

Take a large flat iron tawa or a very wide wok. Heat the measured oil and butter together over medium heat; the oil raises the butter's smoke point so it does not burn.
Introduce the cumin seeds to the hot fat, demanding an immediate, vigorous crackle.
Add the finely chopped onions. Sauté them quickly until they release their moisture and turn soft and translucent pink. Do not let them caramelize.
Add the ginger-garlic paste and the finely diced green capsicum. Stir-fry hard for 2 minutes, so the capsicum softens a little but keeps its crunch.
2 min
Add the chopped tomatoes and the salt. Cook this down hard until the tomatoes break apart completely into a smooth pulp and the oil separates out at the edges.
Turn the heat down. Add the pav bhaji masala and the Kashmiri red chilli powder. Stir the spiced paste hard for 1 minute to bring out the aroma.
1 min
Fold the pre-boiled carrots and peas into the fiercely red, heavily spiced tomato base, ensuring even distribution.
Add the cold, day-old cooked rice to the tawa. Toss it quickly and high, so every grain is coated in the red masala without breaking.
Crank the heat to its absolute maximum and flash-fry the assembly for 2 minutes. The objective is to drive intense heat through the grains while extracting a signature, subtly scorched 'tawa' smokiness from the iron surface.
2 min
Sever the heat source immediately. Deglaze the flavors with a sharp hit of fresh lemon juice and carpet the surface lavishly with freshly chopped coriander.

How to tell it's done

Firm, separate grains of rice coated in a pungent, buttery, sharply tangy red masala, with the crunch of quickly cooked capsicum running through it.

Getting it right

Tip

Authenticity demands the use of a massive iron cooking surface and the highly specific spice blend of Pav Bhaji Masala. Utilizing thoroughly desiccated, refrigerated leftover rice is a non-negotiable culinary directive to prevent the dish from deteriorating into a starchy paste.

What to serve it with

Serve it very hot with a pat of butter on top, a cooling onion-tomato raita and a fire-blistered papad.

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Ingredients