Lunches made simply delicious with Kashmiri Bazbatha

Tehri , which is the vegetarian version of a Biryani incorporates potatoes in rice cooked with spices, popular in Awadhi cuisine , is as near as a Bazbatha could get.

Batha is rice in Kashmir..I first had my taste of this simple but delicious dish at my mother-in- laws home . We would make a very similar dish at my grandmothers home which was i think was in between a Tehri and a Bazbatha but I do love the mix of the simple spices and aroma of a Bazbatha. The uncooked rice is sauteed before placing on a 'Dum' or cooking in water. Every household must have their own way of cooking this dish, adding their twists to it. I learnt this recipe from a very old manuscript of kashmiri recipes of handed to me by my mother-in-law.

Today I paired it with a universal favourite - the Punjabi Rajma (recipe is in a previous post) . Such is this dish that it doesn't even need an accompaniment and you may savour this with yoghurt too.

Ingredients

2 cups Basmati Rice , washed and rinsed Serves 4-5

1 tbspn Ghee

3 tblsp green peas, shelled

1/2 no. medium sized cauliflower, cut into florets

2 nos. medium sized potato, boiled and diced

1 tsp of ginger julienne

1 tblsp coriander powder

1 tsp cumin seeds

A sml piece of jaggery

1/4 tsp Asafoetida in water

1/4 tsp of turmeric in water

1 tsp garam masala powder

2 tblsp coriander leaves, chopped finely

salt to taste

Ghee/ oil for frying

1 green chilli , slit , optional

To prepare:

1. Heat Ghee in a pan , fry the cauliflower and potato together and keep aside.

2. In the same pan , heat more ghee and add the washed and rinsed rice and the shelled peas.

3. Saute for 2-3 minutes and then add the cumin seeds, cloves ,ginger ,green chilli and coriander powder. Add jaggery and the asafoetida water and mix very well. Cook for a few minutes and keep stirring.