April 29, 2008

Gatte Ka Pulao


The cuisine of Rajasthan is primarily vegetarian and offers a fabulous variety of mouthwatering dishes. The spice content is quite high in comparison to other Indian cuisines, but the food is absolutely scrumptious.
The cooking style followed in Rajasthan is based on the natural climatic conditions of this desert land. There is scarcity of water and fresh green veggies in the state of Rajasthan, which has an adverse impact on its cooking. In the desert belts of Rajasthan, it is preferred to use milk, butter milk and butter in larger quantities to minimize the amount of water while cooking food.
Dried lentils and beans obtained from native plants like sangria are used extensively in the preparation of Rajasthani dishes. Gram flour is the major ingredient in the making of a couple of delicacies such as "pakodi" and "gatte ki sabzi". Powdered lentils are liberally used in the preparation of papad. Rajasthanis are quite fond of chutneys, which are prepared using different spices such as coriander, turmeric, garlic and mint.

I was tempted to try many of the Rajasthani recipes, I found googling. I tried Gatte Ka pulao and the famous Rajasthani Daal-Baati. Here is the recipe for the pulao. The gattes can be used to prepare kadhi and other sabzis. Should try other recipes using gattes.
On first reading the recipe (Source: Tarla Dalal), I thought it is not a very easy one, with too many steps involved. Keeping the RCI event in mind, I decided to go ahead. But once I made, I found it very easy. First prepare the gattes, then the masala to be mixed with. Finally set the pulao with the cooked rice, gattes and the masala. Its so simple.
Gatte Ka Pulao

Besan - 1 cup
Chilli powder - 1 tspn
Fennel seeds (Perinjeerakam) - 1tspn
Ajwain(omam) - 1/2 tspn
Curds - 1 tblspn
Oil - 2 tblspn
salt
Oil for deep frying
Combine all ingredients and knead to make a stiff dough. You may require few
drops of water or no water at all.
Divide into 8 equal portions and shape each portion into 4'' long and 5 mm diameter
cylindrical roll.

Boil plenty of water and drop the strands and cook for 12 minutes.
Drain and keep aside.
Cut in small pieces of 1'' length and deep fry them.

Preparing the Pulao
Rice - 1 cup
Onion - 1 (sliced)
Cardamon - 1
Cloves - 2
Cumin -1/2 tspn
Mustard -1/2 tspn
Hing - 1/4 tspn
Chilli powder -1 tspn
Turmeric - 1/2 tspn
Garam masala - 1/2 tspn
Oil -1 tblspn

To make paste
Garlic - 4 cloves
Green chilly - 2
Ginger - 2'' piece
onion - 1 (small)
Make a paste of the above ingredients and keep it aside
Method
Cook rice separately. Spread it on a plate and leave it to cool.
Deep fry the sliced onions.
Heat oil in a pan. Add cardamom,cloves, cumin, mustard and hing.
Add prepared paste and saute for 5 minutes.
Add cooked rice, deep fried onions, gattes, chilli powder, turmeric, garam masala and
salt.
Serve with onion raita or plain yogurt.

I am sending this across to Padmaja of Spicy Andhra, who is the guest host for RCI.

10 comments:

  1. oh my - wish i could just have some of yours and didn't have to make it - sounds so elaborate and delicious! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. lovely... I made gatte ko kadhi sometime back.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Lovely dish Jaya!!
    Thank you so much for sending it over to mine

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ur pualo looks delicious.. it made me realise that RCI-Rajasthan has already been announced :) thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  5. The plate is absolutely yummy. Its really a nice recipe. I haven't heard about this recipe before. Bookmarked it soon will try it.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Beautiful dish, never tasted before Jaya, great entry

    ReplyDelete
  7. gatte ki sabji have heard of,..but gatte ka pulaois something new

    ReplyDelete
  8. I have only tried Ghatte ki sabzi. This is really something new. Next time I will spare some Ghatte for the pulao as well.

    ReplyDelete
  9. arundathi - you are always welcome. Though it sounds elaborate, its easy to make.

    raaga, checked ur kadhi. Shall try it some time.

    padmaja, thanks

    anjali, thanks. You have time to send in yours for RCI

    shriya, thanks. Even I got to know about this when i googled for RCI

    cham, thanks. First time for me too. Thanks to RCI.

    notyet100, gattes and the dishes using them were new to me. I am yet to try the subzi/kadi varieties.

    divya, thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi Jayshree... love gatte ka pulao... I will be referencing this post in my post on gatte ki kadi... nice blog u have and unique recipes!!!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for your interest on my blog.Appreciate your feedback. Leave your suggestions/comments which will help me improve my blog.