Yum! Yum! Yum!

Jeera rice is a flavored rice dish that can be ready in minutes. This rice is cooked with the spices of cumin seeds and ghee (clarified butter). This is not very spicy but smokey flavored rice and suits any veg or non veg gravy curries on the side. This is popular in Northern parts of India and it is everyday rice dish. Compare to Biryani this is a simple and quick fix rice to accompany any masala curries. Today it took only 15 min to prepare this wonderful dish. here is the recipe, Njoy!

Jeera Pulao Rice

Ingredients:
Basmati Rice - 1 cup
Butter - 1 Tbsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
onion - 1/2 medium
mint ( or cilantro) - 2 Tbsp
salt - 1 tsp
green chili - 3
food color - yellow ( a pinch) - optional

Water - 2 cups

Method:

1. Wash and drain the basmati rice and keep it aside.
2. Heat the non-stick pan and add butter in it. Once the butter melts, add the cumin seeds. 
3. As they start spluttering add the chopped (length wise) onions and green chili. Cook for 3 min until onions becomes translucent.Add the chopped mint and saute until they wilt. 
4. Add the drained basmati rice to the pan and coat with the spices and onions well. 
5. Add 2 cups of water and add salt. Close the lid and let the rice cook. ( approx about 7 to 8 min).
6. To add a twist, sprinkle some food color on top and garnish with cilantro. Fluff the rice with spatula and leave it on slow flame for 2 min. switch off the stove.

After 5 min transfer it to serving bowl and serve with any masala-dar curry on the side.

Tips:

• Food color is optional you can skip it if you dislike the food colors. As we don't use any other spices other than cumin seeds, I prefer to add some color to make it interesting. 
• You can use either Mint or Cilantro or both. If you have both herbs handy, then use 1 Tbsp of each in this recipe. Usually i prefer mint leaves for this rice. 

will be back with one more spicy dish
until then, Enjoy Holidays
-Mythreyi