Tahari

Tahari, a vegetables and rice dish, was a sunday lunch staple and was also prepared any time a sumptuous meal had to be prepared in a hurry. Mummy made this also on the day of Basant with yellow color of tahiri matching the yellow colors of Basant. Mummy made tahiri using gobhi (culiflower), matar (peas) and gajar (carrot) making this dish very colorful. Mummy was a stickler for finely grating the onions instead of chopping it. I think this made the onion masala really stick to other vegetables and rice making each bite more falvorful. She always cooked tahari in a pressure cooker which also allowed for flavors from vegetables and masala get mixed with the rice really well. I made this today and we ate it with mooli-tamatar (radish, tomato) relish, another one of mummy's easy yet favlorful relish recipe.

Ingredients
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2 cups rice
3 tbsp oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp black pepper whole
3-4 tej patta (dried bay leaves)
1 tsp cloves
1 big onion, finely grated or ground in a food processor/blender
2 tbsp ginger, finely grated
2-3 green chillies
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
2 tsp garam masala
salt per taste
1 small head of cauliflower, cut in bite size chunks
2-3 carrots, peeled and grated in big pieces
1 cup peas

Method
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1. Wash rice in several changes of water
2. Heat oil in a pressure cooker.
3. When oil is hot, add cumin seeds, let it sizzle
4. Add peppers, cloves and tej patta. Stir and let these sizzle for few seconds.
5. Add onions and fry for 5-6 minutes till onions are cooked and translucent.
6. Add ginger, green chillies and fry for another 1-2 minutes.
7. Add dry masala - garam masala, coriander powder, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, salt
8. Fry for another 1-2 minutes.
9. Add grated carrots, peas and cauliflower. Mix and stir for 1-2 minutes.
10. Add rice. Stir. Add 4 cups of water.
11. Close the lid on the pressure cooker and cook on meium-high heat.
12. Take the cooker off the heat after the first whistle.
13. Open the pressure cooker lid when the pressure is released.

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