bengali basanti pulao | basanti pulao recipe | bengali holud misti pulao

bengali basanti pulao | basanti pulao recipe with step by step picture format. It is a pure Bengali delicacy. The aroma of ghee and garam masalas with rose and kewra essence will just enhance your hunger ten times more. Bengalis heart melts over its great appeal of attractive yellow texture with some cashew nuts and raisins, the wonderful aroma of ghee and garam masalas with rose and kewra water and slight sweetness.

We Bengalis are possessive about such aromatic rice especially when the rice comes with the strong flavor of ghee and garam masalas, i.eBengali Basanti pulao, Bengali white pulao(vegetable pulao), Bengali Misti pulao. Though Basanti pulao and Bengali white pulao both are Bengali Misti pulao or Bengali sweet pulao.

Today I ‘m going to describe my Mother’s  bengali basanti pulao recipe which is the best Basanti pulao I ever had. It might not be the traditional way of making Basanti pulao, but my mom applied the easy and simplest way to make this super delicious recipe.

Gobindo bhog rice is generally used in Bengali Basanti pulao recipe but my mom’s version is on basmati rice. And love this basmati rice version rather then gobindo blog rice which is not easily available out of West Bengal.

In the traditional way of making Bengali Basanti pulao, people usually, rinse the rice, soak in water for a while then drain the water and directly put the rice into the heated pan(with ghee, whole garam masalas and dry fruits), saute the rice for sometime then add water and cover it until the rice is done.

Firstly, you should know the exact amount of water is used to cook the exact amount of rice as if a little more or less use of water can change its glimpse. The result might be like pulao with broken rice or mashed one. And only experts can make such pulao with every grain intact for this recipe. As I am not an expert on such things, I don’t take those chances to make some blunder.

This is one more reason to say my mom’s recipe is the best as my mom prepare the rice first with the whole garam masalas and then later add it to the pan. So there are no possibilities of making the blunder and you can make your Bengali Basanti pulao with every grain intact as before.

You can try Bengali Basanti pulao- mutton kasha or Bengali Basanti pulao- chicken kosha or Bengali Basanti pulao-daab chingri or Bengali Basanti pulao-chingri malaikari or Bengali Basanti pulao-dim kosha or even Bengali Basanti pulao –aloor dum.

bengali basanti pulao | basanti pulao recipe | holud misti pulao recipe

1 tsp= 5 ml, 1 tbsp= 15 ml, 1 cup= 200 ml

Ingredients

• 500 gms Basmati rice
• 7 tbsp Ghee or clarified butter/ ghee+white oil
• 2 bay leaves
• 8-10 green cardamom
• 7-8 cloves
• 2-inch cinnamon stick
• a handful of cashew nuts
• a handful of raisins
• 1 cup milk
• 8 tbsp sugar( as per your taste)
• few saffron strands
• few drops of saffron yellow food color (optional)
• garam masala powder
• 2 tsp rose water(3 drops for concentrated essence)
• 1 tsp kewra water(2 drops for concentrated essence)
• salt(as required)

How to make garam masala powder for Bengali Basanti pulao:

• 1/2 nutmeg
• 2 mace
• 7 green cardamom
• 5-6 cloves
• 1-inch cinnamon stick
• 4-5 whole peppercorn

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 25-30 mins

Served in: 35- 40 mins

Cuisine: Bengali

Course: Bengali Main course

Served for: 4 people

Author: Moumita

Instructions

Preparation of Bengali Misti pulao:

• Rinse the basmati rice under the running water 4-5 time until all dirt goes off.
• Soak the rice in fresh water for 30 mins
• Warm a cup of milk to soak saffron strands. Let it completely cool down then add rose and kewra water into it. If didn’t get the desired color from saffron you can use few drops of saffron yellow food color as per your requirement. But the food color is optional.

• Grind the all above mentioned whole garam masalas to make a fine garam masala powder.

How to make Bengali Basanti pulao:

• Take a big vessel with half of water, add bay leaves, cinnamon stick(broken into 2-3 pieces), green cardamom and cloves(as mentioned above in the ingredients list). Bring it to boil.

• When the water starts to boil, drained the water from the soaked rice and add it to the boiling water. Cook till the rice is done. Check the rice as shown in the pic.

• Drain the starch from the rice immediately through a strainer or your own way of straining rice.
• Spread the rice in 2-3 plates and place it under a running fan to cool it down quickly to keep every grain of rice intact. This procedure will prevent rice from overcooking as basmati rice is very delicate in nature. When rice is completely cool down, keep it aside.
• Now take a deep bottom non-stick pan, place it on a medium heat and add 5 tbsp ghee in it.

• First, add bay leaves, then add cashew, when cashew turn into light golden in color, add raisins or kishmish. Stir it slightly and take a little amount of rice(add the rice in 3-4 batches in the pan, not all together), add it in the pan and gently mix it. And keep doing the process until all the rice gets mixed with the ghee properly. Don’t add all the rice together in the pan. This process of adding rice in the pan will help you to keep every grain of rice intact(won’t break).

• Add saffron soaked milk with the rose and kewra essence first in the pan.  and then add garam masala powder for our Misti pulao, mix it nicely with a great care. Otherwise, rice will get broken.

• Raise the heat from medium to slight high and gently stir it. when the moisture totally goes off, add rest of the ghee from the top. lightly mix it.
• Cover the pan with a lid for about 5 mins. After that, serve your Basanti pulao with the veg or non-veg curry of your choice.

Tips

•   Take a great care, while making the rice as rice should not be overcooked.
• Try to use a non-stick pan while preparing the pulao as we are using milk and rice together and both have a tendency to stick to the bottom of the pan.