Paneer Capsicum Pulav

I love packing some mixed rice to lunch. I generally do some combinations of available vegetables, spices and rice. This is one such innovative combination which I tried and it turned out to be fabulous. I ended up eating this rice without any side dish!!!

Ingredients:

Rice – 150 grams

Capsicum – 50 grams

Paneer – 100 grams

Onions – 75 grams

Green chillies – 10 grams

Ginger-Garlic paste – 10 grams

Ghee – 10 grams

Fennel seeds – 2 grams

Cloves – 2 grams

Cardamom – 1 no

Cinnamon – ½ inch

Star anise – a piece

Nutmeg – 1 gram

Bay leaf – one

Coriander leaves – few

Salt – to taste

Method:

• Wash, the rice. Drain and keep it aside
• Crush fennel seeds, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, star anise and nutmeg.
• Finely chop onions, green chillies and capsicum. Chop the paneer into cubes.
• In a kadai, pour half of the mentioned ghee and fry the paneer cubes until they turn slightly yellow.
• In a pressure cooker, add the remaining ghee. Add the bay leaf, chopped onions, green chillies and the ginger-garlic paste. Saute for about a minute.
• Then add the capsicum and the rice. Saute for about 2 minutes until nice aroma comes out.
• Pour the required amount of water. Add salt and the crushed spices.
• Allow the water to boil. Then add the paneer. Close the pressure cooker.
• Wait for one whistle, then simmer the stove and keep the pressure cooker for 2 minutes.
• Switch off. After cooling, open the cooker and garnish the rice with coriander leaves.

An interesting lunch pack is ready! Serve this with raita of your choice.

Note:

You can also add the fried paneer in the end along with the coriander leaves. I felt by adding the paneer with the other spices, the paneer also had absorbed the flavours of the spices and gave a good taste.

Since I took only about 15 minutes to prepare this variety rice, I am posting this for Fast & Quick Healthy Dishes by Kalpana Sareesh who is guest hosting the event for Priya - Priya's Versatile Recipes