How to Cook Indian Food: Over 150 Recipes for Curry & More by Dave Winstanley - HTML preview

Rice with Peas - Mattar Pilau (Uttar Pradesh)

Ingredients:
Serves: 4-5
1 1/2 cups long grain rice
1 tablespoon ghee
4 whole cloves
1 small cinnamon stick
3 or 4 cardamom pods, bruised
1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 1/2cups shelled green peas and diced carrots
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 1/4 cups hot water

Wash the rice well and leave to soak in cold water for 30 minutes, then drain well. Heat the ghee in a heavy saucepan and fry the cloves, cinnamon, cardamom pods and cumin seeds, for 1 minute. Add turmeric and rice and stir over medium heat for about 3 minutes. Add peas/carrots, salt and hot water. Bring quickly to the boil, then turn heat very low, cover with a well-fitting lid and cook for 25-30 minutes without lifting lid or stirring. Uncover at end of cooking time to allow steam to escape for about 3 minutes. Remove whole spices, fork rice grains lightly and serve hot with meat or vegetable curries.