Mix Veggies & Chicken Pulao

A delicious blend of vegetables, chicken and rice....

Ingredients:

500 gm rice (wash 2-3 times and soak for 20 minutes)

1 tsp cumin seeds

8-10 whole black peppercorn

2 sticks of cinnamon

4-5 cloves

2 black cardamoms/ kali eliachi

½ to 1 tsp red chili powder

Salt (to taste) 

½ tsp black peppercorn powder

250 boiled and shredded chicken

2 medium onions, chopped 

2 medium tomatoes chopped 

½ cup oil

1 tbsp ginger garlic paste (put the paste in 1/4 cup of water) 

½ cup peas 

2 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes

2 carrots cut in to small cubes

1 green chili, chopped

1 and 1/2 cup water

1 and 1/2 cup chicken stock

Method: 

 Take a large pan and heat oil, ( keeping in mind that the rice will double after cooking, plus the veggies and chicken are also added so you will need to have enough space in the pan),  add onion and fry till they get golden brown then add ginger garlic paste (becarefull as the water we added in ginger garlic paste tend to splutter), fry it for a minute or two and add chopped tomatoes, cumin seeds, cardamom, black peppercorn, cloves, cinnamon stick and chili powder.  Fry for some time then add the veggies, chicken and black peppercorn powder, fry for 5 minutes. Now add 1 and 1/2 cups of chicken stock and 1 and 1/2 cups of water and salt, Let the stock boil and taste the salt. You should be able to feel the saltiness. If it feels just right, it means you have too little. Remember that the rice will need some salt too, so let the salt be enough that you can taste it to be a bit more than you would want, but don’t add too much.

Once the stock starts to boil add the rice (remember to drain the rice first).  Let this cook on high heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring every now and then, then reduce the heat to medium and keep cooking covered until the water diminishes, giving it a stir every now and then to make sure all the rice is cooked evenly and perfectly. Once there is very little water left in the rice, reduce the heat to as low as possible, sprinkle the chopped green chilies and cover the pan by using a tight lid or wetting a kitchen towel and placing it over the pan then placing a lid on top of it. cook on low heat, till the water gets absorbed and rice done, for about 10-15 minutes. Switch off the flame and Serve hot with raita and kachomar salad.