Jeera Pulao is a wonderful alternative to just serving plain rice. This Simple Jeera rice takes just as much time to cook as plain rice, but is very flavorful and aromatic.
There are many days when I am in no mood for cooking. Those are specifically the days when kids are dying to eat and come with various requests. This week I am doing the theme of ‘Quick Dishes’.
This means, the dishes have to be made in less than 30 minutes. My weekdays are very busy in the evenings with kid’s activities. So, if for some reason I do not get the dinner planned and prepped during the day, it becomes very hard to get something decent on the table.
I do not work outside of the house and hence take up many volunteering hours at my kid’s school, library and so on. On those days, I make one quick dish that works well with just pickle or yogurt.
This particular time, I had made this rice as a part of Haryana Thali that I have still not posted. Talking about thali, one thing I have learned is that with proper planning, it is very easy to make a complete meal.
Working on couple of things at one time and getting them going helps cut down on time. In this instance, once we get the tempering done for the rice, the rice just has to cook. In that time we can start working on making the subzi.
I love making complete meals from different states and regions. This gives me an idea of how people eat and how the local grown ingredients are utilized. Haryana, being famous for its milk products have many dishes that have dairy products in them. My menu for the thali with this Jeera Pulao was –
Also check out this classic combo dish that I have made from Haryana
Preparation time – 5 minutes plus 10 minutes soaking time
Cooking time – 20 minutes
Difficulty level – easy
Ingredients to make Jeera Pulao – Serves 4 as a part of the meal or 2
- Basmati rice – 1 cup
- Ghee / Nei – 1 tbsp
- Cumin seeds / jeeragam – 1 tsp
- Cinnamon – ½ inch stick
- Bay leaf – 1 large
- Salt – to taste
- Cashews and raisins – few (optional)
Step by step process
- Wash the rice and soak it in water for about 10 minutes. Drain the rice well and keep it aside.
- In a heavy bottom pan, heat the ghee. I have used ghee to make the rice as it makes it more flavorful, but you could use oil instead. Add the cumin seeds, cinnamon stick and bay leaf and let it fry for about 20 seconds or until aromatic. If using cashews and raisins, add it at this stage and let it fry until golden brown.
- Add the drained rice to the pan and gently stir. Make sure you don’t break the rice when stirring.
- Add the water needed to cook the rice and mix well. Add salt needed. I used about 2 cups of water to cook the rice.
- At this stage, you could transfer the jeera rice to a cooker to cook. I cooked the rice in the pan.
- Let the water come to a boil and then simmer the flame and cover the pan. Cook covered for about 10 minutes. Check to see is the rice is cooked. Fluff with fork and let it rest for about 5 minutes before serving.
- Serve the Jeera Pulao with subzi or raita and pickle.
Other Pulao Recipes
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Jeera Pulao | Jeera Rice | Simple Jeera Rice
Equipment
- bowl
- pan
- spatula
Ingredients
- 1 cup Basmati rice
- 1 tablespoon Ghee / Nei
- ` teaspoon Cumin seeds / jeeragam
- ½ inch stick Cinnamon
- 1 stage Bay leaf
- to taste Salt
- few Cashews and raisins optional
Instructions
- Wash the rice and soak it in water for about 10 minutes. Drain the rice well and keep it aside.
- In a heavy bottom pan, heat the ghee. I have used ghee to make the rice as it makes it more flavorful, but you could use oil instead. Add the cumin seeds, cinnamon stick and bay leaf and let it fry for about 20 seconds or until aromatic. If using cashews and raisins, add it at this stage and let it fry until golden brown.
- Add the drained rice to the pan and gently stir. Make sure you don’t break the rice when stirring.
- Add the water needed to cook the rice and mix well. Add salt needed. I used about 2 cups of water to cook the rice.
- At this stage, you could transfer the rice to a cooker to cook. I cooked the rice in the pan.
- Let the water come to a boil and then simmer the flame and cover the pan. Cook covered for about 10 minutes. Check to see is the rice is cooked. Fluff with fork and let it rest for about 5 minutes before serving.
- Serve the Jeera Pulao with subzi or raita and pickle.
Sapana says
This is one such rice dish that I love to make whenever I make those rich paneer gravies or dal makhani . You have explained it so well, love the stepwise instructions.
Avin Kohli says
Jeera rice are such an important part of our cuisine. A good jeera rice can make a curry even more delicious. Lovely share.
Jagruti's Cooking Odyssey says
If I have a choice between plain rice and jeera rice, my hands reach out for jeera rice surely. Such a classic and delicious recipe, we all love to have.
vandana says
I love Jeera rice. This simple rice goes really well with rich Indian curries and daal. Your thali looks so tempting.
Lata Lala says
I would certainly pick jeera rice over plain ones any day. It can be paired well with choice of dal or any curry. Jeera adds so much flavour to rice plus it's easy to make too.
Uma Srinivas says
I love jeera rice and dal fry! This is such a simple yet delicious rice recipe. I agree this will be a better alternate for plain rice.
Seema Sriram says
That thali looks so well balanced. I love the way you have described how to manage time to make all this by multitasking. It makes perfect sense as a busy morning is all bout getting things done.
Bless my food by Payal says
Looks to be simple but this recipe of Jeera Pulao is has the tendency to take the taste of your entire meal to another level. With whatever curry you are serving Jeera Pulao, you are surely gonna cherish the entire plate.
Pavani says
Such a simple, flavorful and delicious rice dish. Perfect side to serve with any Indian meal. Absolutely love it!!
Mayuri Patel says
I’ve yet to come across someone who doesn’t like jeera rice. It’s my family’s favourite especially when I prepare a North Indian style curry. So aromatic and flavourful.