Paneer Pulao

So the girl's school reopens after a long vacation and I am back to my work. Its been a relaxed vacation for both me n my girl. We only ate slept had lots  of fun time together. So last night's dinner I prepared with lot of effort and love for the little one specially. She wanted to have some yummy food and I thought of making some paneer pulao . We as a hard core non-vegetarian I hardly cook paneer/cottage cheese at home. Mostly on Thursdays I get it home being it a vegetarian day for us. So I freezed the menu with a paneer Pulao and corn capsicum masala gravy. Easy to prepare this pulav is lick-smacking that you can always serve your guests with any main course side dish of chicken / fish. I made this pulav in a very small quantity of ghee than the usual amount required in a Pulao. You can increase it as per your taste or requirement.


Ingredients:

Basmati rice: 1 cup
Paneer: 150 gms
Carrot/beans/capsicum: 1/2 cup chopped (you can add veggies of your choice)
Onion: 1 large finely sliced
Ginger & garlic paste: 2 tsp - I made the paste at home only
Green chilli: 1-2 (optional)
Cardamm/Cinnamon/clove: 2-3 of each
Cumin seed or Shah jeera: 1 tsp
Curry leaves: 5-6 leaves
Salt to taste
Ghee: 2 tsp
Oil: 1 tsp
Water as required

Method:

Wash and soak the basmati rice for about half an hour.

Heat 1 tsp of ghee in a pressure cooker.  Strain the soaked rice and roast it for about a min or so till it becomes dry. Transfer the rice to a bowl. Now add the remaining 1 tsp ghee in the pressure cooker and add the jeera, chillies, curry leaves, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon and allow them to splutter. Add the sliced onion, ginger garlic paste and fry till light golden brown. Now add the chopped vegetables and mix everything well. Cook the vegetables for about 2-3 minutes by stirring continuously to avoid burning. At this stage add the rice and salt and give it a nice mix. Add sufficient water to cook the rice. Pressure cook  up to 2 whistles.

By the time heat 1 tsp of oil in  a non-stick pan. Cut the paneer/cottage cheese into small sized cubes and fry in the oil till golden brown from sides. Once done keep them aside.

Let the pressure releases on its own after 2 whistles. Open the lid and transfer the pulao to a large bowl so that the rice doesn't stick, with a spatula or ladle softly. Now add the fried paneer , garnish with fresh coriander and serve hot .