Vegan caramelised onion and cauliflower pulao

Vineet Bhatia

Vineet Bhatia

5th January 2022
Vineet Bhatia

Vegan caramelised onion and cauliflower pulao

60 min

“I just love the smell of the caramelised onion, along with the rice and the spices – it really is magical.”


Ingredients

  • 200g long-grain rice (such as basmati), well washed and soaked for 30 minutes
  • 3 tablespoons ghee, plus a little extra for drizzling Ghee = clarified butter, available in Indian shops.
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 4 green cardamom pods
  • 1 black cardamom pod
  • 3cm cinnamon stick
  • 2 cloves
  • 1 small red onion, peeled and finely chopped
  • 250g small cauliflower florets
  • Salt
  • ½ teaspoon chilli powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 6cm ginger, peeled and julienned
  • 50g fried onions (shop-bought is fine), plus a little extra to serve
  • ¼ teaspoon garam masala
  • Chopped coriander leaves to serve

Method

Drain the rice and give it one more rinse under cold water.
Heat the ghee in an ovenproof shallow casserole over a medium- high heat.
When melted and hot, add the cumin seeds which should start to pop and crackle immediately, both types of cardamom, the cinnamon stick, cloves and red onion.
Gently fry the ingredients until you can smell the rising aroma, and the onion is turning translucent
Add the cauliflower florets, season with salt and continue to fry whilst stirring almost constantly until the onions turn brown.
Add the drained rice and; keep stirring until you are happy that the grains are lightly coated in ghee. Now gently stir in the chilli, ground coriander, turmeric and ginger.
Season again, and then pour in enough water to cover the rice. The basic rule is to add twice as much water as there is rice, by volume. Add the fried onions and bring the water up to a boil.
Let the rice simmer until almost all of the water has either been absorbed or has evaporated. Sprinkle in the garam masala and stir to combine.
Reduce the heat to its lowest and drizzle over just a little extra ghee. Place a lid on top and leave to cook for a further 5 minutes before turning the heat off and leaving the rice to sit for 12 minutes.
After 12 minutes, remove the lid and fluff the rice with a fork. Each grain should be distinct. Transfer the rice to a serving dish, top with a few strands of fried onion and a final flourish of chopped coriander.

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