Monday lunchbox: Keema pulao

It’s been 2.5 months of working from home. Managing a toddler, work commitments, and a husband 24x7 is not easy – trust me! Daily schedules are messed up, brunch is a reality.

So, what to cook is a big dilemma, especially on Mondays with back to back calls.

I ransacked my fridge to find some chicken keema. And there goes my keema pulao!

Tasty, nutritious, filling, and ready in 30 minutes.

What you need?

Staples:

• Rice: 2 cups (or your usual measure)
• Chicken keema: 500gms
• Corn: ¼ cup (optional)
• Peas: ¼ cup (I use frozen peas)
• Ghee/white oil: 2 tablespoons (you can also use a mix of these two)

Whole spices:

• Black peppercorns: 4-5
• Green cardamom: 3-4 pods
• Cinnamon: 2 ½-inch sticks
• Clove: 5 whole cloves

Condiments:

• Salt: According to taste
• Sugar: 4 tsp
• Cinnamon powder: 1 tsp
• Curd: ½ cup
• Keora water: 1 tsp
• Rosewater: 4 drops

Before you begin:

1. Marinate the keema with ½ cup curd for 30 minutes
2. Wash the rice, drain, and keep aside

Yumminess on the way:

1. Heat oil/ghee in a pressure cooker/any utensil that you cook rice in
2. Saute the whole spices – black peppercorn, cardamom, clove, cinnamon
3. Add peas and corn and saute for 1 minute
4. Add the keema and cook for 5 minutes on low flame
5. Add the rice and saute for 1 minute
6. Add the condiments
7. Add 4 cups of water (double the amount of rice)
8. 2 whistles (or 3 – depending on your rice) and the pulao is ready
9. Serve with raita

 And I am back on my laptop in 30 minutes. Monday sorted.