Bagara Rice / Annam

When blog hopping, have you ever felt that you want to bookmark an entire blog (atleast almost the entire blog)? I have a few blogs like that and one of them is Zaiqa. I am sure most of you know about this blog. For the others, this is a "Pucca" Hyderabadi blog with amazing recipes. Do check out the blog.

Coming to today's recipe, this is a typical rice dish served with Mughlai food. I personally feel this goes with all the curries, but can still be eaten on its own. The spices in the rice make it a Pulao type of dish - but without the vegetables.

This has been lying in my drafts from Christmas 2011. On Christmas Day, I made this and Dum Ka Chicken from Zaiqa's blog and both were perfect with each other. I am finally blogging about the Bagara Rice. I'll post the Dum Ka Chicken very soon (hopefully).

I avoided the ghee from the original recipe, added chillies and changed the quantities of some of the ingredients.

Serves: 3 - 4

Ingredients
1.5 cups Basmati Rice - washed and soaked for atleast 20 minutes
1 Onion - finely sliced
2 Green Chillies - slit vertically
1 tsp Shahjeera / Caraway Seeds
2 tsp Ginger Garlic Paste
1 tbsp Coriander Leaves- finely chopped
1 tbsp Mint Leaves - finely chopped
4 Cloves
3 Green Cardamoms
1 inch piece Cinnamon
1 Bay Leaf
3 Cups of Water
2 tbsp Oil
1 tsp Salt

Method

1. Heat Oil in a pan. When hot, add the Onions and fry till brown.
2. Now add the Ginger Garlic Paste and fry till the raw smell goes.
3. Add the Coriander Leaves, Mint Leaves, Green Chillies, Cloves, Green Cardamoms, Cinnamon, Bay Leaf and Caraway Seeds and fry for another minute.
4. Add 2.5 cups water, cover and bring to boil.
5. In the meantime, drain the rice completely.
6. Once the water is boiling, add the rice and bring to boil once.
7. Now mix the rice gently, cover the pan and cook till the rice is half done.
8. Open the lid, add the remaining water, mix and cook till the rice is done.
9. Now turn off the heat and leave it covered for atleast 15 minutes.