"Gowdru" Pulao

Calling a dish something shouldn't change the taste of it, right? WRONG!

Whenever I make pulao, the aroma is so fragrant that one cannot wait to take a bite. But when you actually take a bite, it falls flat of its expectations.. A big “tuss”! 

One would keep guessing what it is? a pulao? just another rice bath? a green rice bath? I’ve even had a guest ask me what it is. 

It would have some weird sweet taste to it, which came from god knows which ingredient! May be carrot, may be sweet corn, may be coconut, may be cinnamon.. I have no idea!

Every time I saw a pulao recipe online, I would bookmark it to try for the next time. The next time I tried, I would follow that recipe religiously. But the result would be that same weird sweet taste.. I tried increasing garlic, decreasing cinnamon, increasing onion, decreasing carrot, increasing green chili, adding pepper, adding garam masala, skipping coconut, adding tomato, made it in cooker, made it on the stove top directly(well, you get the gist); but that weird taste stayed. 

This time I opened my bookmarked folder again and decided to try this Gowdru Pulav recipe. My husband started to worry that I am making Pulao again :); but being the persistent fighter I am, I ignored him!  

The recipe was of a basic pulao with nothing much different actually, except for the fact that there was egg in it. I skipped the egg, but the remaining recipe was the same I’ve tried many many times before. But it came out differently! Good different! But how? That is still a mystery! The only thing I did was skip carrot altogether, may be that was it. The taste is 1 step closer to the taste I want to achieve - yay!

So here is “gowdru” pulav recipe for you - 

Ingredients

2 cups Sona masoori rice

4 cups water

2 large onions

Beans

Pigeon peas

To grind - 

5-6 green chili

4 garlic pods (you can increase this if you like it more garlicky)

ginger - a small piece

cinnamon - 1 small 1/4 inch piece

cardamom - 5-6 pods

cloves - 7-8 pieces

1/2 bunch cilantro

Method

add oil in a pressure pan

add saunf(optional)

add chopped onions - saute for few minutes

add ground masala - saute for few minutes

add vegetables - saute for few minutes

add salt

add washed rice - saute for few minutes

add water and bring it to a boil

close the lid and let it whistle 2-3 times

Once it is done, add some lemon juice and mix well.


Recipe Source - http://www.fingerlickingfoodblog.com/2008/03/gowdru-pulao.html