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I prepared this pulao for Diwali and it turned out awesome. It is a very simple and quick recipe of pulao with minimal spices but tastes really good.

Ingredients:
1 cup basmati rice,
2 small onions; halved and thinly sliced,
2 small carrots; diced into 1″ long pieces,
1 cup shelled green peas,
3-4 bay leaves (tejpatta),
4-5 cloves (laung),
8-10 peppercorns (kalimirch),
2-3 cinnamon (dalchini) sticks,
4 green cardamom (chhoti elaichi)
1/2 tsp caraway seeds (shahjeera),
1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera),
Salt to taste,
2 1/2 cups water,
3-4 tbsp ghee (homemade butter).

Method:
Wash the rice and set it aside till you prepare the vegetables.
Melt ghee in a large deep pan or a pressure cooker/pan on medium flame. Add the bay leaves, peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon and fry for 30 seconds. Now add shahjeera, jeera, onion and saute till it turns transparent (not brown). Then add carrots and green peas. Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes. Then uncover, add washed rice, mix well. Add water (2 1/2 cups if you are cooking in an open pan or 2 cups in a pressure cooker/pan) and salt, stir well and cover and cook (for open pan; cook for around 15-20 minutes by stirring at intervals or pressure cook upto 2 whistles). Serve hot with dum aloo, kofta curry, any vegetable curry or dal tadka.

Ingredients:
2 cups Ambemohor or any scented rice,
3 cups sugar,
1 cup freshly grated coconut,
5-6 laung (cloves); broken open,
7-8 badam (almonds); soaked in hot water for some time and then peeled and sliced,
A handful of raisins,
1/2 tsp elachi (green cardamom) powder,
1/4 tsp kesar (saffron threads) or few drops orange color,
1/2 lemon,
A pinch of salt,
1/2 cup ghee.

Method:
Wash rice and drain and keep aside for an hour. Then heat some ghee in a heavy bottom pan, add cloves and let them fry on low flame for some time. Then add rice to it and roast rice for few minutes. Then add 4 cups water, saffron or orange color, sugar, lemon juice, salt, mix well till sugar has dissolved. Then cover and cook the rice. When rice is fully cooked remove it in a flat plate. Using a fork separate rice from any lumps. Add almond slices, raisins and elaichi powder, mix and serve.

Ingredients:
250gms cooked rice,
1/4 cup tamarind paste,
1/2 tsp dhania dana (coriander seeds),
1/2 tsp methi dana (fenugreek seeds),
1/2 tsp chana dal (gram),
1/2 cup water,
Salt to taste.

For tempering-
2 tbsp oil,
1/2 tsp tsp methi dana (fenugreek seeds),
1/4 tsp heeng (asafoetida),
Few curry leaves,
Jaggery to taste,
Red chilli powder as per taste.

Method:
Dry roast and grind together dhania, methi and chana dal to fine powder. Heat water in a container. When water boils add this powder, tamarind paste, jaggery and salt to it. Meanwhile in a small saucepan heat oil, add ingredients for tempering and pour into the water. Boil it once. Then add the rice to the water. Keep on low flame and let it cook for some time till it is steamy hot.

Ingredients:
2 cups rice,
3 tbsp fresh coconut (grated),
2 1/2 cups coconut milk,
2 tbsp ghee (butter),
2 inch cinnamon (broken),
3 cloves,
1/4 tsp cardamom seeds,
2 bay leaves (optional),
3 green chillies finely chopped,
1 tbsp coconut jaggery (coarsely crumbed),
12 cashewnuts (cut in small pieces),
20 raisins,
Salt to taste,
1 1/4 cups Water.

Method:
Wash rice and drain. Heat ghee in a large pan over medium heat. Add cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and bay leaves. Stir for few seconds and add jaggery. When jaggery melts, add rice. Mix well and saute for 5 minutes. Add coconut milk and water. Bring to boil stirring occasionally on medium flame. When it boils reduce the flame, cover and cook for about 15-20 minutes, till all the liquid has evaporated.
Sprinkle grated coconut, cashews and raisins. Lightly fluff the rice with a fork, and serve hot.

Ingredients:
1 cup long grain (basmati) rice,
1 cup sweet corn,
1 onion; cut into half and thinly sliced,
2 red chillies,
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste,
A handful of coriander leaves,
1 small green chilli, deseeded,
12-15 cashew nuts,
2-3 drops of yellow color or saffron dissolved in little milk,
Salt to taste,
Oil for tempering,

Whole Garam Masala-
6 peppercorns (kali mirch),
3 cloves (laung),
2 1″ sticks of cinnamon (dalchini),
1 bay leaf.

Method:
Wash rice and soak it in 3-4 cups of water for 15 minutes. Then add salt, 3 peppercorns, 2 cloves, 1 stick of cinnamon and bay leaf and keep it on flame till the grains are cooked but firm. Do not over cook the rice else it will turn soggy and break while mixing. Before draining the rice, add yellow food color to it, mix with the spoon and drain. Set it aside. Boil the sweet corn with little salt for around 10 minutes. Do not add too much water while cooking the corn.
In a blender, blend together coriander leaves (reserve some to garnish), green chilli, ginger-garlic paste, 8 cashew nuts to form a paste.
Heat oil in a pan, add red chillies, cashew nuts and the sliced onion and saute for 3 minutes. Then add the ground paste and let it fry for few minutes. Now add corn to this masala, little salt (since we have already added salt to rice and corn) and cover and cook for a minute. Then add in the cooked rice, and slowly fold into the corn mixture. Cover with a lid and let it be on flame for 1-2 minutes. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve with any raita of your choice.

TIP:
This recipe can be eaten as a low calorie diet, omit cashew nuts.