Pilaf has always been an easy to fix dinner for me. And it has many variations to play around with. I wanted a mildly spiced pilaf tonight, and a vegan one. I mostly use cashew for garnishing the pilaf,but gave a new twist to the dish by making cashew and saffron sauce using coconut milk. Coconut milk gives a soothing flavor or aroma when rice is cooked using it.
1.25 cups basmati rice (either white or brown)
1/4 cup chopped kale
6-7 cashew whole
1/4 cup coconut milk
1.5 tsp cumin
1 tsp saffron strands ( Spanish Saffron)
1/2 medium sized onion julienned
1/4 cup green peas
3-4 broken dried red chillies
Salt to taste ( about 1.5 tsp)
1.5 tbsp oil
1.34 cup water or as per the Basmati brand cooking instructions
Pomegranate arils or jumbo raisins for garnish
Warm the coconut milk in microwave for 50 second and stir in the saffron strands. Let it stand for 10 mins. Then add cashews to the saffron milk and puree them.
In a pan, heat the oil on medium flame for about 40 seconds and splutter the cumin. Add the dried red chillies, kale and onions. Saute till onions are semi soft.
Wash the rice and mix it with the onions and spices. Add the peas and salt. Saute on low flame for 2-3 mins. Pour the saffron sauce on the sauté and mix the rice with it thoroughly.
Transfer the saffroned rice into rice cooker, add the water and cook as per the settings. You can cook the rice on stovetop too. Do not overcook the rice.Serve hot, garnishing the pilaf with pomegranate or jumbo raisins. Black bean daal or adzuki bean daal pairs well with this rice. So does cucumber raita.
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