Mumbai Tawa Pulao

Tawa Pulao is a veryyy popular street food in Mumbai. I've had this many a times during my stay in Mumbai. Its taste  still lingers fresh in me. You can find this pulao being made and served in most of the street end kiosks making pav bhaji's. The pav bhaji masala is already prepared by the vendor and this pulao is quickly tossed out with the left over pav bhaji masala. And you can find hungry office goers, students and workers galloping spoonfuls of them! Its quite addictive too!!

Ingredients

1 cup basmati rice

1 cup chopped vegetables of your choice (carrots, beans, peas, potato, baby corn, capsicum) 

1 medium sized onion

1 medium sized tomato (made into a paste)

1 ts ginger garlic paste

1 ts cumin seed

2 green chillies (slit opened)

1/4 ts turmeric powder, 1/2 ts chilli powder

1-2 ts pav bhaji masala (depending on taste)

1/4 ts garam masala (optional)

Handful of finely chopped coriander leaves

1 tbs oil + 1 tbs butter

Preparation

- Pressure cook rice with enough salt, little oil and enough water for 2 whistles. Keep them aside. Adding little oil makes the grains of the rice to be separate. 

- Heat oil and butter in a pan on a low to medium flame. Be careful to see that the butter doesn't get burnt.

- Add cumin seeds once oil turns hot.

- After cumin seeds crackle, add thinly sliced onions and fry them until they turn translucent.

- Add ginger garlic paste and give a good toss for few seconds.

- Now add the chopped vegetables (except capsicum) and fry them in high flame for 2-3 minutes until everything gets coated well with oil. Then cover the pan and let the vegetables cook in low to medium flame for about 5-10 minutes until it is reasonably soft but crunchy. Add little salt for the vegetables to cook well. (Do not add water to boil vegetables. Also I don't prefer to pressure cook vegetables for this dish. It will make them mushy. The speciality of this dish is in the crunchiness of the vegetables.)

- After they are cooked, add the chopped capsicum and toss for a minute.

- Now add the slit green chillies, turmeric powder and chilli powder. Give a good mix.

- Add the tomato paste now. Mix everything well and let them cook in medium to high flame for 2-3 min until the tomatoes changes colour which is a good indication that they have been cooked.

- Add the cooked rice and give a good but gentle mix. Add the pav bhaji masala and garam masala. Toss them in high flame for 2-3 minutes. (Ideally the rice is tossed in very high flame, so the rice should look dry and little roasted. It should not remain watery or mushy.)

- Finally garnish with coriander leaves.

Ideal accompaniments to this would be raita and dry roasted papad! Also serve with some lemon wedges.