Spinach Pulao (Rice with Spinach and Caramelized Onions)
- Serves 4-5
This one pot rice dish is a favorite in our home and is loved by all, even those who don’t like spinach. The sweet flavor of caramelized onions combined with spiced spinach, and fragrant basmati rice screams comfort food like no other. I use fresh Chinese spinach from the farmer’s market in this recipe (because you know, with greens fresher the better) but you could easily swap it with packaged spinach leaves.
Always use good quality, mature basmati rice in dishes like pulao and biryani. Remember to rinse your rice until the water runs clear, then soak it for at least 30 minutes prior to cooking; this ensures your rice grains cook evenly throughout. Although my preferred method of cooking rice is in a rice cooker, you could just as easily use a heavy-base saucepan to cook both the sauce and the rice, making it a one-pot meal. The amount of water you will need to add to basmati rice depends on the maturity of the grain. I use the ratio of 1 cup pre-soaked rice : 2 cups water when cooking in a saucepan and 1 cup pre-soaked rice : 1.5 cups water for my rice cooker as it traps steam really well. Do check instructions on your packaging to check rice to water ratio for your preferred brand of rice before cooking.
Simply serve this fragrant rice dish with a side of Greek yogurt, papadums and boiled eggs for some extra protein.
Ingredients
260g quality basmati rice
3 tablespoons coconut oil
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
2 bay leaves
2" cinnamon stick
1 black cardamom, optional
2 green cardamoms, pounded in a mortar and pestle - optional
300g red onions, sliced
1 inch ginger, finely chopped
2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
2-3 bird’s eye chilies, finely chopped
150g fresh tomatoes, chopped
1 teaspoon garam masala powder
1/4 teaspoon red chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
200g spinach leaves, washed and finely chopped
Recipes
1. Rinse basmati rice and soak in a few cups of water for about an hour.
2. Heat oil in a large saucepan, drop in cumin seeds, bay leaves, cinnamon stick, black and green cardamoms. When seeds start spluttering, add sliced onions and fry until golden brown, stirring occasionally.
3. Add ginger, garlic and chilies - stir well until fragrant. Next, add tomatoes followed by garam masala, red chili powder and salt.
4. Add chopped spinach and stir-fry for a few minutes until limp.
5. Add rice followed by 720ml water if using a saucepan for cooking (or 540ml water if using a rice cooker for cooking rice - see note).
6. Stir well, bring to the boil, and cook on medium flame until there is only little water left in the saucepan. Stir well and reduce heat to low flame, cover and steam for another 5-7 minutes until rice is fully cooked. Let it stand for 10 minutes, then fluff it up using a fork. Serve hot with a side of boiled eggs, plain yogurt and papadums.
Note: If using a rice cooker, use 1.5 cups water to every cup of rice (about 540ml in the recipe above). Follow steps 1 and 2 as instructed in recipe above, then transfer everything into a rice cooker before switching it on.