I recently read somewhere in the Internet about the street foods in Mumbai and that started a nostalgic tone for me. I love the street food that Mumbai has to offer, be it vada pav, or the ubiquitous bhel puri, sev puri and pani puri or Mumbai’s very own pav bhaji. Vendors who sell this yummy dish also make a rice dish with the vegetables that go into the bhaji making a fairly different type of pulao/biryani. This pulao is therefore inspired by the pav bhaji pulao.

Pulao/Biryani with a Twist

Ingredients:

• 11/2 cups basmati rice, washed and soaked for atleast 20 minutes
• 2 medium sized onions, chopped finely
• 1 fairly big potato, peeled and cubed into bite-sized pieces
• 1 carrot, peeled and cubed into bite sized pieces
• 1/2 cup frozen green peas
• 1 green capsicum, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 4 medium sized tomatoes, finely chopped
• 2 flakes of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp (or more) red chilli powder
• 1 tsp cumin seed powder
• 1 tsp coriander seed powder
• 2 tsps (or more) pav bhaji masala
• 1 tsp sabzi masala (optional)
• Salt to taste
• 2 tbsps oil

Method:
Heat oil in a pan and when it is fairly hot, put in the cumin seeds. When it splutters, add the garlic, stir for a few seconds, then add the ginger and give it a quick stir.

Next, add the onions, capsicum, carrots, peas and potatoes in the following order making sure you give a quick stir before you add the next vegetable. Now add the tomatoes and the spices and stir well. Once all the vegetables have been nicely coated with the spices, add the rice from which the water has been completely drained.

Stir and let the rice mix well with the vegetables and let it cook for a couple of minutes.

Now transfer everything to a rice cooker, add around 2.5 cups of water and let it cook.

When the rice is done, keep it covered for another 10 minutes, then fluff lightly with a fork, garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.