Gajar ke Meethe Pulao
A sweet rice dish with red winter carrots and dried fruits, a Punjabi delicacy
- Cooking time40 mins
Calories436kcal
What do you make with all the beautiful, red, winter carrots? Of course, our mind goes to Gajar ka Halwa—that classic winter dish from Punjab.
But in this episode of “Pasher Barir Ranna” chef Rahul Arora, whose family hails from pre-Partition Lahore shows us a Gajar ke Meethe Chawal recipe that he inherited from his paternal grandparents.The recipe is very easy and can be made in half an hour from start to finish.
Give this a try while these beautiful carrots are all over our markets.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ingredients
Serves
4
- 250 g red carrots (grated)
- 200 g basmati rice (soaked in 350 ml water)
- 30 g ghee
- 10 g cashew (chopped)
- 10 g almonds (chopped)
- 10 g raisins (chopped)
- 15 g charmagaz (melon seeds)
- 15 g chironji (or charoli)
- 3 cloves
- 2 pcs cinnamon
- 1 bay leaf
- seeds of 1 black cardamom
- seeds of 2 green cardamom
- 225 g sugar
Method
- Rinse and soak the basmati rice in 350 g water. Measure the water you soak the rice in, as this is going to become the cooking liquid for the dish.
- Peel and grate the carrots using a medium-sized grater.
- Roughly chop the cashew, almonds and raisins.
- Take the seeds out from the black and green cardamom.
- Heat ghee in a heavy-bottomed pressure cooker.
- Add all the dried fruits, nuts, seeds and whole spices.
- Fry them until they turn fragrant, about 45 seconds.
- Add the carrots and saute on high heat for another minute or so until they are vibrant red.
- Now add the rice and the water that was used to soak the rice.
- Give everything a stir and close the lid of the pressure cooker.
- Cook for 2 minutes once the pressure cooker reaches full pressure.
- When the rice is cooked, gently stir in the sugar.
- Close the lid, and place the cooker on "dum" over indirect heat until the steam just about starts building up (about 2–3 mins).
- Wait for a couple more minutes and open the lid to give everything one final mix.
- Serve hot.
