Small potato and chick peas pulao

Small potato pulao is one of the favourites of my brother and me at home. The favourite has many steps in its preparation, but it is definitely worth the work !!!!

I wanted to make aloo dum actually but then, I thought it is nicer to prepare a variation of this rice for the afternoon. This is a recipe adapted from 100 Rice delights of Mallika badrinath.

I used the baby potatoes that I bought from the Thursday farmers market last week, they turned out to be little sweet in taste. I also used the "Tomates perle" (pearl tomatoes) from the market.

We need the following for 3 persons:-

Sona masuri / Basmati rice - 1 1/2 cups

Baby potatoes - 15

Tomatoes paste and water (I used the cooked chick peas water) - 2 1/2 cups (Has to be 

adjusted on the amount of water required by the rice to cook nicely to the separate grain consistency)

Chick peas - 1/2 cup (soaked overnight)

Echalotes (Shallots) - 3 medium sized, finely sliced

Corriander - 6 sprigs

Curd - 2 tbsp

Garam masala - 1/4 tsp

Oil - 1 tbsp

For the masala paste:-

Corriander seeds - 1 1/3 tbsp

Cumin - 2/3 tbsp + a pinch

Red chillies - 2 big + 1 small

Dry coconut - 1 tbsp

Ginger - 1.5 inch piece

Procedure:

1. Wash and cook the rice with the tomato paste and water -  to separate grains consistency. Spread on a plate and cool the rice.

2. Dry roast all the masala paste ingredients except ginger. Cool and make a coarse paste of the roasted ingredients and ginger with water.

3. Make a paste of corriander leaves and curd.

4. Now heat a pan with oil and fry the onions on slow heat till they turn brown.

5. Now the process is simple, add the masala paste fry for 4 mins and then add the corriander and curd paste and mix nicely.

6. Add the boiled and peeled potatoes, cooked chick peas and mix nicely. Now add salt and garam masala powder. Add the cooked rice and mix in nicely. Serve hot with raita.

 Small potato and chick peas pulao, onion raita and cucumber - Today's lunch