Jhatpat Vegetable Pulao is often made in our house when I am short on time. With ingredients available in your pantry and refrigerator all the time, it is a very quick ("jhatpat" in Hindi) and easy, mildly aromatic pulao to make in a hurry. With an accompaniment of raita and pickles or chips, it is a complete, satisfying meal. I have used a pressure cooker or pressure pan to speed up the cooking process, but if you do not have that, you can still make this fast pulao in a saucepan within 10 minutes!!
Ideal when sudden guests arrive, for kids' lunch boxes or even for bachelors, it is a no fuss recipe that can be made in a jiffy. The best part is, you can use any vegetable you have and any type of rice (you don't have to use only Basmati) in your pantry and the pulao will still come out delicious!!! The tricky part is using the amount of water. Rice and water should be either 1:2 proportion or 1:1 ½ , depending upon the type of rice.
I have not soaked the rice, as mentioned in lot of pulao or biryani recipes, so I have used 1:2 rice: water proportion. Garnish of nuts and raisins gives it a royal look and taste, so these are a must in most of my pulaos!!
For more quick rice dishes, please do check Quick and Easy Tawa Pulao and Quick Vegetable Fried Rice.
Ingredients
- ½ cup rice
- 1 small onion, sliced
- 2 green chillies, slit
- 2 medium cloves of garlic, sliced
- 1 medium carrot, peeled and chopped
- Handful of green beans, washed and chopped
- 3 to 4 cloves
- 1 to 2 pieces of cinnamon
- 1 green cardamom, whole
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon ghee
- Handful of cashews and raisins
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Wash the rice and drain well. Keep aside.
- In a pressure pan, heat the oil, add the green chillies, cloves, cinnamon and cardamom and fry for a few seconds.
- Add the onions and sauté for a few more seconds on medium heat.
- Once the onions turn slightly soft, stir in a tablespoon of ghee, add the carrots, beans and the drained rice and sauté on medium high till all the moisture evaporates and the each grain of rice is coated with the oil and ghee.
- Meanwhile, in a separate pan or in a microwave, boil 1 cup of water.
- Add this to the rice-vegetable mixture, add salt to taste, mix well, cover the pressure pan and cook on high heat.
- After the first whistle, lower the heat to low and after 5 minutes, remove from heat.
- If you do not have a pressure pan, at this stage, once it comes to a boil, lower the heat and cook, covered for about 10 minutes till all the water is absorbed and each grain of rice is separate and cooked.
- In a small pan, heat a teaspoon of ghee and fry the cashews and raisin for a few seconds till the cashews turn slightly golden brown and the raisins puff up a little.
- Once the pressure drops, remove the lid of the pressure pan, add the nuts and raisins and gently stir the pulao.
- Serve hot with onion raita or any other raita you prefer.
Step-by-step method:
Chop all the vegetables and keep aside.
Wash the rice and drain well. Keep aside.
In a pressure pan, heat the oil, add the green chillies, cloves, cinnamon and cardamom and fry for a few seconds.
Add the onions and sauté for a few more seconds on medium heat.
Once the onions turn slightly soft, stir in a tablespoon of ghee, add the carrots, beans and the drained rice and sauté on medium high till all the moisture evaporates and the each grain of rice is coated with the oil and ghee.
Meanwhile, in a separate pan or in a microwave, boil 1 cup of water.
Add this to the rice-vegetable mixture, add salt to taste, mix well, cover the pressure pan and cook on high heat.
After the first whistle, lower the heat to low and after 5 minutes, remove from heat.
If you do not have a pressure pan, at this stage, once it comes to a boil, lower the heat and cook, covered for about 10 minutes till all the water is absorbed and each grain of rice is separate and cooked.
In a small pan, heat a teaspoon of ghee and fry the cashews and raisin for a few seconds till the cashews turn slightly golden brown and the raisins puff up a little.
Once the pressure drops, remove the lid of the pressure pan, add the nuts and raisins and gently stir the pulao.
Serve hot with onion raita or any other raita you prefer.
Note:
You can add any vegetable you have in your refrigerator or freezer like bell pepper, corn, peas, mushrooms etc. If you have mixed frozen vegetables, time taken for prepping and cutting is also avoided. Adding paneer cubes or tofu will add to the protein content of the dish.
I have tried this pulao with all varieties of rice and they have all come out good. Just make sure you do not add too much water.
Adjust the amount of rice and vegetables according to your choice, depending upon the number of people.
If you do not have a pressure pan, you can cook this in a pan too on low heat, after it comes to a boil.
Omitting the ghee and only using oil, will make it a totally vegan dish!!
Thank you so much for the appreciation!! I would love to give the recipe, but what is pariya; I have not heard of it. By vegetable chapati you mean stuffed or any other? Again, appreciate the feedback and thanks!!
Excellent recipe and well description.Thank you very much.Can you give us a vegetable chapati or pariya recipe alongwith method.