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Wash rice thoroughly and soak it in water for 30 minutes.
Finely chop onions.
Heat oil in a deep vessel and fry onions until they turn brown and crisp.
I prefer to fry the onion in small batches. This helps in getting the onion crunchier.
Strain half of the fried onion from the pan.
Fry dry red chilies as well.
Keep ⅓ of the fried chilies in the pan; crush ⅓ of the chilies and add to the pan and keep the rest for garnishing. This step is very important.
Add 2 bay leaves.
Now add soaked rice after discarding the water.
Fry the rice for 3-4 minutes on low flame.
The rice will turn almost translucent.
Add boiling water (double the quantity of rice) to the rice.
Now add salt as well.
Cover the pan with a lid and cook for around 7-8 minutes or until the rice is cooked.
Rice will soak all the water by then.
Now add the rest of the fried onions and fried red chilies.
Add 1 Tsp. of ghee and lightly mix it.
Do not overmix while cooking or do not add excess water.
Give a rest of 10 minutes before opening the lid to serve the pulao.
Serve Birista Pulao hot with a spicy side