Peas Pulao With Coconut Milk

Preparation Time : 20 minutes

Cooking Time : 30 minutes

Ingredients

2 tbsps ghee

2 tbsps oil

Few whole spices (Bay leaf, cloves, mace, etc)

1 tbsp cumin seeds / jeera

2 cups raw rice

2 cups coconut milk

2 cups water

1.5 cups fresh green peas

Salt to taste

Ingredients for grinding

2 inch ginger

5 green chilles

Water as required

Ingredients for coconut milk

Fresh coconut

Water as required

Method for grinding the paste

1. In a mixer jar, add the ginger and green chillies.
   
2. Grind to a smooth paste and set aside.

Method for extracting coconut milk

1. In a mixer jar, add small coconut pieces and grind once without water.
2. Now add water and grind to a fine paste.
3. Collect the paste little by little into a strainer and press this paste with a spoon to extract the coconut milk.
   
4. Strain the entire paste and collect fresh coconut milk. This is the first coconut milk.

Method for preparing the pulao

1. In a pressure cooker, heat the oil and ghee. Once the ghee melts, add the cumin seeds / jeera.
   
2. Once the cumin seeds splutter, add the whole spices.
   
   
   
   
3. Now add the ginger and green chilles paste and stir well.
   
4. Next in is the fresh green peas.
   
5. Stir well for 2 minutes.
6. Now add raw rice and stir well.
   
7. After 3 minutes, add the coconut milk that was extracted earlier.
   
8. Stir well and add water.
9. Add salt to taste and mix thoroughly.
   
10. Cover the pressure cooker's lid and wait for two whistles and then turn off the gas.
11. Allow the pressure cooker to cool down and open the cooker lid after it is cooled down completely.
    
    
    
    
12. Fluff the rice gently. Peas pulao with coconut milk is ready to taste.
    

Notes

1. Coconut extract can be easily prepared at home and it hardly takes 5 minutes. I would suggest to prepare coconut milk afresh instead of reaching for the ready made ones at the stores. They are neither healthy nor are they tasty.
2. If using frozen peas for this recipe, allow the rice to mix with the coconut milk for two minutes, add the frozen peas, water and salt and pressure cook.
3. You may add sauteed onions to the cooked peas pulao while fluffing the rice in Step 12.
4. This pulao goes well with onion and pudina raitha.

Tips to speed up the cooking process for peas pulao

1. You can make this pulao in electric cooker but you've to fry the spices, rice and peas once on a frying pan and then transfer the contents into a rice cooker to cook. This is cumbersome and I feel one-pot-cooking as mentioned in this recipe is quick.
2. Peel the fresh peas and have it ready.
3. Prepare the coconut milk while the raw rice and peas are frying with the spices.