Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Hyderabadi Zafrani Pulao



Believe it or not, this recipe is taken from a Hindi movie. Really!! When watching the movie "Cheeni Kum", the other day, Amitabh Bachchan (who acts as Chef in this movie) mentions this recipe in one of his dialogues. Every time Amitabh Bachchan said “Hyderabadi Zafrani Pulao” my stomach drooled and wanted to have it. I was very keen to try out this recipe. So today, at last I tried it; And to my delight it came out good. Zafrani is commonly known as Saffron. Usually Zafrani pulao is sweet, but this "Hyderabadi Zafrani Pulao" is the savory dish. I researched about this dish on the Internet and found that this very dish was considered to be a delicacy of the Nawabs (the Royals of the South) in India. This recipe has a very rich ingredients and with a rich aroma. Enjoy it!!


I re-posting this recipe for the JFI for Rice hosted by Sharmi of Neivedyam. Thanks for organizing such a wonderful event on Rice. This is my entry for rice.

Preparation time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 20 mins
Ingredients:
450 gm (2 cups) basmati rice
1 medium onion, sliced
2 tablespoons ghee
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
1 inch stick cinnamon
1-2 cardamoms (elaichi)
2-3 cloves
1 bay leaf
1"(25mm) ginger
2 cloves of garlic (optional)
pinch of saffron strands
10 tsp milk
2 tsp chilli powder
2 tbsp sour curd
50 gm (1/2 cup) slivered almonds
25 gm green raisins or sultanas
4 cups water
1 teaspoon salt

Method:
1. Soak saffron in 2 tablespoon of warm milk for few minutes.
2. Meanwhile rinse rice and soak in fresh water for 30 minutes in a pan.
3. Heat ghee in a heavy saucepan. Add cumin seeds when they crackle, add onion and all the spices(cloves, bay leaf, cardamom, cinnamon), ginger and garlic except saffron to the hot ghee. Stir-fry until the onion turns golden brown.



4. Add almonds, raisins and well-drained rice, chilli powder, milk and sour curd, stir-fry for a further 5 minutes.


5. Pour water into the rice, It should be just the right quantity - one inch above the rice level.



6. Add the salt and saffron, stir well and bring to the boil.
7. Reduce heat, cover the pan tightly and cook on slow fire for about 20 minutes until the rice is tender and fluffy and the water is absorbed.
8. Fluff up the rice with a fork and serve immediately.

Note: Rice and water ratio is 1:2 so use accordingly.

22 comments:

Rajitha said...

looks good...u know when i was watching the movie and AB shoots off the ingredients... i should have written them down...

Suganya said...

Hi Athika....
Ur pulao is looking awesome....
nice recipe...Love it...

Athika said...

Hi Rajitha, When AB was telling the recipe I wrote it down and added few more ingredients of my own and tried the recipe it came out good so posted it.

Hi Sukanya, Thanks for your kind words.

Anonymous said...

yes i too saw the movie and wanted to make it.i didn't note them thinking i can do it when ever i want online.it's nice that u tried it.

SPICE OF LIFE said...

hi Athika,
this is my first time on your blog ..and zafrani pulao did that :-) everytime AB said zafrani pulao I could smell it in the air ;-) ....even I wished I has a pen and paper to note down the ingredients when he was describing the recipe ..I am glad u could do it and blog it for all of us ...great work !!

Sharmi said...

I heard of the pulav for the first time in Cheeni Kum movie:) thanks for the lovely and delicious pualo.

Manasi said...

I tried Zafrani Pulav a few weeks ago! Fom Cheeni Kum!! love the movie and the Pulav!! Ur version looks awesome!!!

Tee said...

Now you are making me drool! :) I haven't yet watched the movie, but every time I hear some one mention it, i go and to the indian store to get the movie...but its always out!!!! ;)

Padma said...

You are smart girl, noting down Big B's recipe from his movie, got to tell him....Loved the pictures and great entry...Kudos! Now you are making me hungry..

Viji said...

Nice Puluv Athika. I too love this. Viji

Unknown said...

Dear very nice recipe , i tried it and came well. Thank you.

Unknown said...

Hi Athika, I got the ingredients from the Movie but did't know how to cook. after getting ur recipe I tried it today and it came out really nice...

Thank You

Anonymous said...

Hi Athika,

Thanks for the receipe....looks yummy..me trying to cook this over the weekend.

Pranav Sahasrabudhe said...

Hi,

I liked the recipe so much... I have been cooking for last 12 years... But now I am feeling like I know some quality cooking, hence I am starting my personal website with cooking section in it. I would like to include this special recipe in my list of recipes...

Feel free to contact me back
pranav@sahasrabudhe.info

Anonymous said...

It looks great. But I remember that the pulao was non-vegetarian. It had mutton in it. Isn't it?

Unknown said...

Hi,

I visited your site for the first time today and tried this recipe...it came out very well...you have described it very well...thanks and congrats...I just love to cook this type of food particularly when I am far away from India...

Anonymous said...

i'm from italy. THANKS!!!! I saw the movie and seemed none was interested to this rice. Finally I got it

Anonymous said...

thanx a million!!!just like you my curiosity was turned on to find out how good the pulao must be!the way Big B was passionately talking about it,got me and i bet a million others to search for the recipe!thanx a lot!

Anonymous said...

Hello Athika's
i like your this recipe and i am going to try it once i will come back after trying this at home
thank you

silentblogger said...

thanks athika. i first heard about zafrani pulav in cheeni kum. but i never thought the recipe will be so simple for me to understand. im not a cook but love food.
thank you very much for the recipe. btw, the images looked so tempting.

Bangalore Florist said...

Thanks for the recipe.

One Quarter Good, Three Quarter Evil said...

Thanks. I tried this out. My wife was pleasantly surprised! :-)