Flavourful Tri-coloured rice | Tiranga Pulao

Flavourful Tri-coloured rice | Tiranga Pulao

I just made these Flavourful Tri-coloured rice | Tiranga Pulao to pay my tribute to all those who fought for our freedom. This year we celebrate the 73^rd Indian Independence Day. An annual observance day which is celebrated every 15th August. I would always lead the march past for my group in school and I used to be so proud of my country. Watching the Independence Day parade at Red Fort, used to give me goosebumps of pride. Now I dunno where we are headed. The Orange layer is made of tomato and carrot rice, the white is coconut while the green is a heady mint-coriander and peas. It is a one-pot meal with three different flavours and tastes.

I celebrated my Indian independence day with this incredible layers of Flavourful Tri-coloured rice | Tiranga Pulao. You can undoubtedly relish the flavorful taste any day rather than just Independence Day or Republic Day.  There would be much appreciation for your culinary skills.

How to make Flavourful Tri-coloured rice | Tiranga Pulao

In my family tomato rice is a tradition and a favourite and to that, I added grated carrot which gave it the natural orange colour. I do not believe in using food colours and derive colour from natural sources, as much as I can. Coconut rice is quite common in the south. The green layer was full of aroma and flavour with the fresh mint and coriander while the peas gave it the ultimate crunch.

Flavourful Tri-coloured rice | Tiranga Pulao should be tempered in ghee and made with long-grained basmati rice. Cook the rice until it is al dente so that your rice is not sticky and lumps up when mixed with the tomatoes or peas.

For other Coloured rice check out my Rainbow Rice or flavoured Mushroom Mint Rice or the tasty Green Moong Khichdi.

Ingredients for Flavourful Tri-coloured rice | Tiranga Pulao

For the Plain Rice

1 ½ cups Rice

2 ½ cups water

FOR CARROT RICE:

½ cup cooked basmati rice

1 carrot, grated

3 tomatoes pureed

1 tbsp ghee / clarified butter

½ tsp jeera/cumin seeds

¼ tsp pepper

¼ tsp turmeric powder

salt to taste

For Coconut Rice:

1 tbsp ghee / clarified butter

½ cup basmati rice cooked

2 cardamoms/ Elaichi

1/2  tsp jeera/cumin seeds

1 bay leaf / tej patta

½ cup grated fresh coconut

2 cloves

1-star anise

1-inch cinnamon stick

salt to taste

For Peas & Mint-Coriander Rice

½ cup boiled basmati rice

1 tbsp ghee / clarified butter

¼ tsp jeera/ cumin seeds

2 green chilli

1 cup mint and coriander leaves finely chopped

¼ cup peas, fresh/frozen

Salt to taste

Method

For the plain Rice

Wash and soak the rice for 15 minutes. Add rice in a slow cooker or pan along with water. Turn off flame once the rice is cooked and keep aside.

For the Tomato and Carrot Rice

In a pan add 1 tablespoon of ghee with ¼ teaspoon cumin seeds. Add the pepper and tomato puree. Once the tomato is cooked, add the grated carrot and Sauté for a while. Add ½ cup of the cooked rice and salt, then mix well.

Grease a mould with ghee and add the orange coloured rice and press down with a bowl.

For the Coconut Rice

In a pan add 1 tbsp ghee, cumin seeds, cardamom, bay leaf, cloves, cinnamon and star anise. Saute till the aroma wafts in the air and add the ½ cup boiled rice with salt and coconut. Turn off the flame and mix well.  Add this coconut tice to the orange rice in the mould and press down.

(Sorry, the coconut rice pics came out blurred)

For the peas mint-coriander Rice

For the green layer take a pan and add the ghee and cumin. Now add the green paste made with mint-coriander and green chillies. Add the green peas, and salt and sauté till the mixture is smooth. Add ½ cup of the cooked rice and mix nicely.

Finally, add these peas and mint-coriander rice to the coconut rice and tomato rice in the mould. Press Down and leave for a couple of minutes.

Gently unmould on a serving platter and lo and behold your Flavourful Tri-coloured rice | Tiranga Pulao is resplendent in all its glory. For the charkha add an onion ring. Serve with raita of your choice.

Another variant for layering it is very easy. Just take a rectangle platter and spread the rice in layers-orange first, then white and then green. Place a lemon ring on the coconut rice in place of the wheel or charkha.

Isn’t this Flavourful Tri-coloured rice | Tiranga Pulao a gourmet’s delight?