Tawa Pulao

By Harini
Tawa pulao is a famous Mumbai street food.It gets the name as it is prepared in the same tava which is used for preparing pav bhaji. So it goes without saying that the start ingredient of this tava pulao is pav bhaji masala (not the gravy but the dry mix of spices). I am yet to taste this famous dish in any chaat stall or resturant,but I have read quite a few recipes and was all hooked to try this. I first read a recipe for this in one of the old issues of femina,then I read this recipe from Sanjheev kapoor.It looked fairly simple to try out.I made it for yesterday's brunch and we liked it a lot.
I did not make it in a tava though, I used a heavy kadai and made a few changes,to beprecise I kind of mixed both the recipes and the pulao was way way tasty and fragrant. I am posting the method I made it and hope you will try it and let me know :)

How to make tava pulav
Ingredients:
1 cup cooked basmati rice
1 cup cut vegetables( I used potatos,carrots,capsicum,peas and sweet corn kernels)
1 large onion chopped fine
2 tomatoes chopped fine
3 green chilles crushed
1 small piece of ginger crushed
2 teaspoons pav bhaji masala powder
1 teaspoon red chilli powder
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
Cilantro handful
Juice of half a lemon
2 teaspoons butter or ghee
Method:
1.Soak basmati rice for 30 minutes and pressure cook with just little water above the ric level for upto 2 whistles. The rice should be fluffy still grains separate. Spread the cooked rice in a wide plate and let it cool.
2.Heat butter(or ghee) in a thick bottomed kadai,add mustard and cumin seeds.Let them splutter.Now add crushed ginger and green chillies and saute for two minutes.
3.Add chopped onions and saute till light golden brown. Now add the tomatoes and saute till it turns mushy and leaves juice. Add the cut vegetables and saute well for five minutes (add little water if needed,but the vegetables should not loose their crunch).
4.Add pav bhaji masala,red chiili powder and salt and mix well.Cook for 5 more minutes on high flame.
5.Add the cooled rice,spread gently with a spatula,close the kadai and remove from heat immediately.After 10-15 minutes,mix well,add lemon juice,garnish with cilantro and serve hot.
Time: 40 minutes (including cooking rice)
Serves: 3
Notes:
1.Addition of cauliflower will increase the taste and flavor.
2.Do not use the hybrid variety tomatoes as they don't leave any juice.
3.For any kind of pulao or flavored rice,where cooked rice is mixed to gravy or dry curry,make sure the rice is completely cooled before mixing in.Also do not immediately mix the rice with curry as it will turn the rice mushy.