This rice dish does not need any sides and may be accompanied by papad or raita. However I do prepare a simple carrot lentil salad called hesaru bele kosambari for my kids’ Lunch box which goes very well with this rice. Shared it below. Potato rice is quite similar to my vegetable masala bath made with cauliflower, but the spice powder used here is a simple Punjabi garam masala. You can use any flavourful garam masala or even a biryani masala powder.
How to make potato pulao or aloo pulao recipe
- Wash and cook rice without making it mushy. I generally cook rice with lot of water in an open pan for making variety rice dishes. Drain off the rice in a colander once cooked and cool.
- While the rice cooks, peel and cube potatoes to very small and add to water. Smaller the cubes, faster they get roasted. Slice the onions.
- Heat oil in a wide pan, add dry spices and saute till they begin to sizzle
- Add garlic or ginger and sliced onions. Fry till the onions turn soft. One to two minutes. Do not over fry else they will be burnt later.
- Add potatoes and fry till they are cooked and roasted well. By then the onions too become like fried onions we use for biryani.
Spice powders to make potato pulao
- Sprinkle red chili powder, garam masala, turmeric, mint and salt. Mix everything well till it turns fragrant.
- This step is optional, to follow if your potatoes are still under cooked. Add very little water and stir. Cover and cook till the potatoes are cooked.There should be no moisture left and the mixture should turn fairly dry before you go to the next step.
- Quickly add cooked rice to the pan else the masala will be burnt. Mix well. Serve potato rice with a simple raita or vegetable salad. Cool the potato pulao thoroughly before you pack it in a lunch box. You may like this collection of rice recipes. For more easy lunch box recipes, check outvegetable fried ricevegetable biryani in pressure cookerPulao recipetomato bath vangi bath
Potato rice or potato pulao
Recipe for hesarubele kosambari 2 to 4 tbsps. moong dal washed and soaked for about an hour. Drain off dal to a colander. I move the colander under the fan for extra moisture to dry up else the kosambari becomes watery later. Add grated carrot, coconut, chopped coriander leaves and green chili. For kids skip chili. Toss everything well. I do not add salt if made for lunch box since kosambari will release juices. Add salt just before you serve. You can temper this with curry leaves, hing, mustard and cumin. For the lunch box, i use no salt and no tempering is done.
