darkitab RACIPES ENG

Ingredients:
Basmati rice: 1/2 kg
Sugar: 3/4 kg
Pure ghee: 250 gm
Almond kernels: 25 gm
Raisins: 25 gm
Dry dates: 50 gm
Dry coconuts: 50gm
Shelled musk melon seeds: 25 gm
Black cardamom: 25 gm
Black pepper corns: 10 gm
Cinnamon: 5 gm
Green cardamom: 5 gm
Cassia leaves: 6 nos
Cloves: 2 nos
Green ginger: 20 gm
Sugar candy crystals: 25 gm
Kewra essence: 5 drops
Saffron (a pinch), or lemon yellow edible colour (a little)
Salt: 1/4 ts

The Steps:
Pre - Preparation :
1) Wash in several waters, and soak the rice, in 3/4 litre of water,
for 2 hrs before cooking.
2) Blanch the almond kernels and stem and wash the raisins.
3) After soaking the dates in water for an hour, rinse in more water.
4) Cut each date lengthwise into 5 or 6 slices, discarding the
stones and the horny tops.
5) Pare the dry coconut, and whittle it into thin shavings, of an
inch in length.
6) Clean the shelled musk melon seeds, by discarding any seeds with
shells, shell pieces and also bad seeds.
7) Wash these. Take out seeds of black cardamoms and clean these of
the chaff.
8) Crush these seeds, along with peppercorns into small granules.
9) Wash, scrape and chop the green ginger.
10) Keep together the above prepared condiments in a bowl.

Preparation :
1) In a thick-bottomed pan, of about 3 litres and with a fitting lid,
boil the rice in the very water in which it was kept soaking, till it
is almost cooked and all water is absorbed.
2) Stir gently once or twice while boiling, so that the rice cooks
uniformly.
3) Remove pan from the stove.
4) Meanwhile in a pan, put the sugar and add a little more than a
quarter of a litre water, and the prepared condiments, along with the
cinnamon pieces and cassia leaves.
5) Add also the saffron, or the edible colour.
6) Stir, and boil on a low flame till sugar gets dissolved, and the
condiments also cook a little in the syrup.
7) Now transfer the somewhat cooked rice to a basin, and add the
condimented syrup, along with the green cardamoms, after crushing
these a bit.
8) Add ghee, after heating it in a pan and adding the 2 cloves.
9) Now, with a broad flat spatula, gently mix the rice, and the
condimented syrup along with the ghee and cassia leaves etc, and
transfer all the things back to the pan.
10) Cover its mouth with the fitting lid.
11) Put a 'rope' of kneaded wheat flour dough, between the rims of
the pan and the lid, and press it, to make the vessel almost airtight.
12) Resume heating the pan, on a very low heat, and put a weight on
the lid, so that the kneaded flour packing sets as a gasket to stop
the steam from escaping easily.
13) After 20 to 30 mins of slow steam cooking remove the weight and
the lid, and see that the rice is done to the very core, and all its
grains, are separate and somewhat translucent.
14) The very special aroma will denote that the pulav is ready.
15) Sometimes a little more heating, after sprinkling little water,
may be necessary, if the rice is not done properly.
16) Just before serving, the kewra essence and sugar candy crystals
are mixed with the pulav.
17) Serve piping hot.

Calories: 8260

Left - Over Ideas :
Mash the leftover rice, add milk and use it as a kheer.