Friday, August 03, 2007

Zafarani Harvest Grain "Pulao"



Nupur's fantastic series the A-Z of Indian Vegetables Series is coming to an end :( This has been an amazing culinary journey for me where I saw bloggers come up with the most amazing variety of entries, where the recipes were mostly Indian but the ingredients were necessarily not!

In order to honor the culmination of this series where the letter "Z" is being celebrated, I decided to prepare a dish with the king of spices, Zafaran or Saffron. Saffron is one of the most expensive spices in the world and also one of the most ancient. It not only elevates the flavor, color and fragrance of the food it is added to, but takes it to a whole new level really. As if that one was enough, saffron has some pretty cool medicinal properties as well!

Now moving on to the Pulao bit, I am not a huge fan of white rice which is why I decided to make this pulao with this amazing harvest grain blend from Trader Joe's. The savory blend consists of orzo pasta, baby garbanzo beans and red quinoa. The instructions on the package said one can make an entrée by adding shrimp, so though why not use this to make a flavorful zafarani pulao instead!

I am happy I decided to do so, as this was as tasty as it was healthy. The best part is I got to use the dried apricots sent to me by jen last week. This is my entry to the “Z” series of Nupur’s A-Z of Indian Vegetables

Zafarani Harvest Grain Pulao
Ingredients
1. 1 cup harvest grain blend (mixture of orzo pasta, baby garbanzo beans and red quinoa). I used the one I got from my local Trader Joe’s
2. 2 tsp dried apricots of Zardaloo, fine chopped
3. ¼ cup lima beans
4. 1 tsp paprika powder
5. 1/2 tsp biryani masala (available in any Indian grocery store)
6. 2 tsp saffron strands
7. 11/2 tsp ginger-garlic paste
8. 3 cups vegetable stock or water
9. 1 tsp olive oil
10. Salt to taste

Method
1. Soak the saffron strands in ½ cup of water and keep aside
2. In a heated pan, add the olive oil
3. When the oil is hot, add the apricots and ginger-garlic paste. Sautee for a 1-2 minutes
4. To this add the paprika and biryani masala and roast for half a minute
5. Add in the lima beans and mix well. Sautee for 1-2 minutes
6. Add the harvest grain blend and sauté for a minute
7. To this add the vegetable stock/water and salt
8. Let cook for 10 minutes or till the beans are done. The harvest blend does not take more than 10 minutes to cook
9. Garnish with some zafaran and zardaloo
Enjoy :)

I paired this with some roasted pappadums.yumm…

12 comments:

Saju said...

that looks so tasty! and health too!

Unknown said...

I am a big fan of Zafrani Hyderabadi Pulav... but this is the first tome I came across, Zafrani Harvest Grain Pulav... Looks very delicious and healthy!!Thanks for sharing!

FH said...

That pack is so cool like 16 bean soup pack!:))
Zafrani dish is great and so healthy!:)

Dhana said...

Thanks Saju! It surely felt healthy too :P

Cinnamon, this is the 1st time I made a pulao with something other than rice, but didn't regret it at all :)

Ooh Asha, good idea! I should try using the harvest blend as a soup next time.

Tee said...

Great entry! I had also planned something with saffron, but it didn't quite turn out the way I liked :( ...I am definitely trying out your recipe...looks delicious !

Sharmi said...

I wonder how you come up with unusual recipes with "Z":))
looks so healthy and has got a lovely name. very healthy.

Chef Jeena said...

Hi there I like your blog great recipes :)

Dhana said...

Aww Tee, am sure your saffron dish is great. I hope you post/send it anyways!

Sharmi, thanksss! It was so healthy and tasty. As for coming up with new recipes, given that am not fond of rice and fried foods, have to keep finding alternative ways to cook certain dishes :)

Thanks Jeena!!

Priyanka said...

Great recipe Dhana.... will try it out:)

Nupur said...

Looks superb! And I love the photo that looks like a sail-boat, with the papad as a sail. Very cute!

Dhana said...

Priyanka, let me know how it turns out!

Thanks Nupur! Isn't it amazing how humans see different shapes differently. I thought the papad looked like a bird..hehe :P

Kajal said...

Great entry for “Z” Keep it up.:)