Healthy Heart diet- Fat free- Vegetarian Biryani Pulav
July 02, 2012
2. Reversing heart disease with Indian food.
This is the second in a series of recipes that may help in reversing heart disease. An Indian recipe without a drop of oil.
The main problem with Indian food is that almost every recipe calls for an initial sauteeing of onions and spices in oil and the seasoning at the end again done in oil.
One way of dealing with that is to dry roast onions in a kadhai. They get caramelised, which is the intention of browning, and achieve a good flavour, so the oil will not be missed much.
Biryani with Masoor dal/ Pulav with whole red lentils
Ingredients
2 cups rice ( wash well till water is completely clear)
1/2 cup akha masoor dal / whole red lentils ( wash and soak for 45 minutes)
3 large onions ( cut into long thin pieces)
3 bay leaves/tej patta
10 peppercorns/ kala mirch
6 cloves/lavang
6 cardomom/elaichi
1 " stick of cinnamon/dalchini
1 1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste
1/2 tsp turmeric/ haldi
1 tsp rock salt
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp garam masala powder
Method
Brown onions by roasting dry in a kadhai for 10 minutes, turning occasionally.
In a 5 litre pressure cooker, dry roast the whole spices- the cinnamon, bay leaves, peppercorns and cloves. Add the ground ginger garlic paste and the browned onions and stir till well mixed and the spices cook a little.Add the turmeric, chilli powder and salt. Mix well again. Now add the soaked lentils/masoor and the rice. Add 2 and a half cups of water, and the garam masala. Mix again then cover with the lid and put a small stainless steel katori/vessel over the whistle on top. Cook for 20 minutes on a medium low fire. Turn off the heat and let stand.
Serve hot.
Delicious with raita or sambar.