Pudina Pulao

Mint (aka pudina) is a very flavorful herb. I am trying to do some veggie gardening this spring. I got a small veggie patch done in my backyard. All these years I have planted tomatoes. Tomatoes have been doing well. This year I am adding some herbs like mint, basil, lemon verbena too in the patch. Keeping my fingers crossed.:)
Amma’s recipe for pudina/mint pulao/rice is so easy to make. It is a mildly flavored aromatic rice and doesn’t need an additional veggies to be added. Yea for the kids and nay for me :). This recipe has coconut in it, which gives it a South Indian twist :). Coconut adds to the taste of the rice, but the amount of coconut added is so negligible, its goes unnoticed.
With my lovely kitchen gadget (instant pot) I get to make this with very less supervision. I make it on the stove top in a open vessel, pressure cooker and in the instant pot. Any of these ways works great.

Ingredients

rice 1 cup
onion 1 big, sliced
bay leaf 1
oil 8 tsp
salt to taste
water 1 + 1/2 cup

for masala
mint leaves 1 cup
spinach 1 cup (optional)
ginger 1 inch
garlic 4 pods
whole black pepper 6
green chili 6
amchur/dry mango powder 1 tsp
almond 6
shredded coconut 1/2 cup
cinnamon stick 1 inch
clove 2

Method

for masala
Wash the mint and spinach leaves.
Grind all the ingredients into a fine paste with 1/2 cup of water.

cooking rice using Instantpot
Wash rice with water, drain and set aside.
Turn on the instant pot and set to sauté mode.
Add oil, once it is heated add the bay leaf and onion.
Saute for 1-2 mins, then add the rice and sauté till the rice is toasted and turns white or slightly brown.
Pour in the masala paste, mix well and heat for a min.
Add 1 cup of water and salt to taste.
Close the instant pot lid, press the off button.
Set it to manual mode with high pressure for 7 mins.
Do a normal pressure release.
Open the lid, using a fork fluff the rice.
Enjoy with onion-tomato raita on the side.

Note: this can be made on the stove top as well, all the steps are same except will need to add 2 cups of water (1/2 cup for masala and 1.5 cups for cooking rice) and cook the rice for 10-12 mins.

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