Corn Pulav/Corn Pilaf/Corn Pulao

Corn pulav

At the end of a hot and humid day nothing could be better than a walk down the huge Marina beach. My brother usually enjoys driving so it would not really matter how late it was, we will just drive to the beach and take a walk, good old days! Common sight there was ice cream vendors, mango vendors, people selling steamed groundnut (yumyum!) and charred corn cobs! It was so much fun having the corn cob charred on a flame in front of you and rubbing lime over it and just eating the corn straight off the cob. Wow!

When I started working, I used to do food shopping more often and also with less guilt because I could pay for any of my experiments. I happened to join a diet plan in the canteen at work and was given boiled corn as a snack. I liked the sweetness and fact that it was moist and easy to eat and not dry. I then looked for and found frozen corn and it was in my routine to boil some every Saturday and sit in front of the TV and snack. Having said all that, I usually am not particularly fond of corn in a meal, like in rice or sambar. I still wanted to make corn pulav because my brother and sister-in-law were visiting us and they both like corn. Here is one way of making corn pulav and I think I will be coming up with more as corn has so much potential. All of us enjoyed this pulav, hope you do as well...

1 cup rice

1 cup cooked corn (I use frozen corn kernels)

3-4 green chillies

2-3 tablespoon grated coconut/coconut powder

2-3 handful fresh coriander leaves

1 red onion thinly sliced

1 red onion chopped

1 inch ginger piece (optional)

4-5 garlic cloves (optional)

1 cinnamon piece

2 cardamom pods

1 bay leaf

2 cloves

Cooking oil

Salt to taste

Cook the rice in water containing the whole spices (cinnamom, cardamom, bay leaf and cloves). This can be done whether you are pressure cooking or not. This way of cooking will help get all nice flavour and aroma from the spices into the rice. If you have time and energy, fry the spices in a teaspoon oil and also fry rinsed, drained rice and then cook it. Try to keep the grains separate.

Fry the chopped onions along with chillies, ginger and garlic. Cool and grind to a paste along with coriander and coconut.

Fry sliced onions until golden brown and add the ground paste. Cook until raw smell goes and nice aroma comes.

To cook the corn, either steam it or boil it in adequate water. Add corn and rice to the onion paste mixture.

Season with salt and serve hot with raita.

Typically, 1 cup rice is adequate for 2 people.