Peas Pilaf With Raisins and Cinnamon( Endu Draksha Pachi Batani Pulao )

Simplicity at its best, peas and raisins did wonders to this rice pilaf! This simple peas and raisins rice dish largely depends on petite peas, raisins, cinnamon, ginger and garlic to deliver that big flavor! This rice pilaf is a perfect display for simple yet flavorful Indian Cooking. Raisins and Cashewnuts paired nicely with this spiced rice pilaf, which added to the surprise sweet bites balancing the spices.




I made this for the first time when i had a pot luck at my work place, i remember last year i made our regular vegetable biriyani with the store bought biriyani masala and i swear everyone where literally asking ' How do you people eat this spciy food everyday?', and you know what i really didnt add any green chillies and added very less masala than usual. But this time my peas and rice pilaf dish is a winner at my work, 99% of them being non indians, i wanted to keep it low on spicyness, yet wanted them to learn that Indian cooking is not just spicy, its packed with flavor from the spices like cumin, coriander, cinnamon, clove, cardamom , ginger, garlic, cilantro, mint etc,,

Ingredients you need:

• 1 cup basmati rice ( i use royal basamati rice from costco or sams, tastes better than tilda basmati rice)
• 1 cup green peas( petite peas are the best for this pulao ) -- There is no need to thaw the frozen peas, as they have enough time to cook along with the rice
• 1 large onion
• 4 tbsp ginger garlic paste
• 4-5 green chillies( optional )
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 4-5 cloves
• 2 cardamom pods
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 - 1/3 cup golden raisins( golden raisins taste better in this pulao )
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup cashew nuts
• 4-5 tbsp oil
• 1 tbsp butter
  

How to make peas pulao:

• Soak the rice for 30 min( optional for better results ) and drain in a colander
• In kadai or pan addbutter or ghee and fry the rice until the rice turns into opaque, keep it aside.
• Heat both butter and oil in the same pan and add cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and bay leaf.
• Once they start to release the aroma add ginger garlic paste, fry the paste until the raw smell disappears.
• Add chopped onions and green chillies along with salt
• Once the onions turn into golden hue add the peas and cook for 5 min
• Add the fried raw rice and let the peas masala coat the rice thoroughly

• Cooking with rice cooker:Butter the rice cooker pan or use ghee for it, for doing this In an electric cooker add 1 1/2 cups of water and the peas and rice mixture, it will be done in less than 15 min. Keep it under warm for 5 min and then switch off.Mix the rice pilaf( sometimes it might get burnt at the botttom, just discard )

• Cooking on the stove top: Add 2 cups of water and the fried raw rice to the peas masala bring it to boil and reduce the flame and let the water evaporate, close with teh lid and cook under very low heat for 3-5 more min and check for doneness. Once done, gently fluff the rice and mix bring everything together.
• In a seperate pan add butter cashewnuts and raisins, once the raisins are plump and cashewnuts(kaju) changed to golden brown remove from heat and add to the cooked pilaf.
  
• Add mint and cilantro at the end.

This rice and peas dish is a refreshing change from regular mixed vegetable biryani. I made very
mild channa masala (Spiced chick peas curry ) and raitha( yogurt with onions, cucumber, tomatoes
and cilantro ) to serve along with the peas rice for my coworkers.


This peas and rice pilaf spiced with cinnamon and sweetened with raisins is on its way to Think Spice - Think Cinammon event hosted by Sunitha. Also this will be my entry for AFAM - Dry Fruits hosted by Latha Namrasimham.

Note: Add more green chillies if you can handle the heat, otherwise this dish is perfect with any vegetable curries on the side.

Tags: Pachi batani pulao, Peas, Raisins, Rice pulao, SweeT and spicy pulao