Corn and Cottage Cheese Pulao

 

Photography is an art by itself. Professional food photographers are absolute magicians as they can turn a simple dish into the most mouth-watering creations. Sadly, I can never compete with them in terms of technique or creativity but that has never stopped me from whole-heartedly appreciating a good photograph. And that was how I stumbled upon a photograph of corn pulao with the yellow of the sweetcorn popping up to greet greedy eyes. So, now you know the inspiration behind this recipe. 

 

What Goes In:

Raw Basmati Rice – 1 cup

Hot Water – 2 cups

Boiled sweetcorn – 1/2 cup

Soft Cottage Cheese – 2 dsp

Ghee (clarified butter) – 1 1/2 tbsp

Garlic (chopped) – 2 pods (optional)

Red Onion (sliced) – 1/2

Cumin seeds – 1 tsp

Cinnamon – 1” stick

Cardamom - 2-3

Dried Red Chillies – 2 (I chose extra hot red chillies – tiny but powerful!!)

Salt – to taste

Coriander leaves – to garnish

The 'How To':

• Bring the ghee to heat in a medium-sized pan over a high flame. Add the cumin seeds, cinnamon and cardamom and fry till the they release their aroma.
• Add the garlic and onion and saute till the onions turn translucent.
• Toss in the rice and the sweetcorn into the pan and fry till the rice is coated in the ghee.
• Now add the cottage cheese, salt and hot water. When the water starts to boil, cover and simmer until the rice grains are cooked.
• When the rice is done, run a fork (as opposed to a spoon) through it so that the rice grains remain fluffy and do not break.

Note: I used soft cottage cheese with onions and chives that were store bought. However, nothing can beat the taste of home made soft cottage cheese, if you can go through the hurdle of making it.