Chenna Chawal

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Nourishing rice with chick peas. Easy to make and not so tough as it looks
Serves 6 - 8

Ingredients
Basmati rice ¾ cup uncooked
Cardamom 2
Cloves 2
Cinnamon 1
Bay leaf 1
Milk ¾ cup
Salt
Chick peas ½ cup
Ginger paste 1 tsp
Garlic paste 1 tsp
Chilli powder 1 tsp
Turmeric powder ½ tsp
Fresh yogurt ½ cup
Tomatoes ½ cup chopped
Potatoes 2 chopped
Carrot 1 chopped
Green chillies 4 chopped
Ghee/ Oil
Cilantro 2 tbsp chopped
Mint leaves 1 tbsp
Fried onions 1 tbsp
Milk with a dash of saffron 1/8 cup

Get Cooking!
For the rice
1. Soak the rice in water for 30 minutes. Drain.
2. Mix ¾ cup water and milk together.
3. Add the cardamoms, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaf, about 2 ½ tsp salt and rice and cook until almost done.
For the gravy
1. Soak the chick peas overnight (or use the canned ones after draining and washing out the excess sodium ;)). Next day, boil with a little water. Drain.
2. Heat the ghee/oil, add the ginger and garlic pastes and fry for a while.
3. Add the chilli powder and the turmeric (in a little water) and fry for 1 minute.
4. Add the yogurt, tomatoes, potatoes, carrot and 3 chopped green chillies and stir for a while.
5. Add the chick peas and salt.

Get Baking!
1. To the cooked rice, add the coriander, mint, 1 chopped green chilli and fried onions. Mix it up carefully
2. Put one layer of rice in a big bowl and spread a layer of chick pea gravy on top
3. Make alternate layers of rice and gravy in this manner.
4. Finally, sprinkle the saffron milk on top, cover and bake in a hot oven at 200 degree C (400 degree F) for 20 minutes.
5. When baked, turn upside down in a serving dish and serve hot with raita.

Tips
You could add other veggies like green beans, peas, cauliflower. I reduced the number of green chillies and did not add the one to the rice before baking as it gets to be too spicy. Could reduce the amount of chilli powder too.

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Filed under bake, rice