Shahzeera Pulav or Shah jeera Pulao is an easy one-pot meal made with spices and green chilies. This mildly spiced pulao is a wonderful dish for the lunch box.
Though the name says Shahzeera, the recipe calls for cumin seeds and cumin powder. I was a little skeptical about packing just this without any side dish for Konda's lunch box. This pulao was just fine on its own. Of course, though who want a side dish to pair can make some spicy gravy along with it.
However, my intention for this series was to find dishes that could just be packed on their own without needing any side dish. On that account, this pulao meets the bill. The heat in this pulao comes from the green chilies and is quick to get done. I remembered the basic Shah Jeera Rice that I had made as part of my series on Introduction to Indian Cooking some years back.
For the initial few pulaos, I was using the pressure cooker and it was getting tough to pack a dish that wasn't clamped up. So I resorted to pan cooking and rice dish comes out very neat in this method too. With pressure cooking, the cooking gets done fast, however, if you don't wait for the pressure to fall down naturally, the rice is mushy by afternoon.
This Shahzeera Pulao was one of the best one-pot meals I made for this series. The source I referred to this tagged as Hyderabadi Shahzeera Pulav and I couldn't find the reasons behind it.
I chose to go with just Shahzeera for the letter S in the AtoZ Quick Under 30 Minutes, which is my theme in the Biryanis, Pulaos, Khichdi, and Mixed Rice. If you want to read some elaborate Biryanis, check out what I have for S in Spice your Life!
A to Z Quick Under 30 Minutes Meals
A for Achari Chana Vegetable Pulao
B for Bhuga Chawara
C for Cholia Chawal
D for Dal Khichdi
E for Ellu Sadam
F for Fodnicha Bhaat
G for Green Garlic Pulao
H for Hare Chane Ka Pulav
I for Ivygourd Masala Rice
J for Jevarisi Chitranna
K for Kadam Bhog
L for Lilva Pulao
M for Methi Matar wara Chawaran
N for Neyichor
O for Oralu Chitranna
P for Pariba Khechudi
Q for Quinoa Biryani
R for Raw Mango Rice
PIN This for Later!
Step By Step Pictures for making Shahzeera Pulav
Shahzeera Pulav | Hyderabadi Shah zeera Pulao
Ingredients Needed:
1 Cup Basmatic Rice
4 to 5 nos Green Chillies sliced
Handful Mint Leaves
Handful Coriander Leaves
2 to 3 Cloves
2 Cardamom
5 to 6 Peppercorns
2 medium Bay leaves
1 inch Cinnamon
1 tsp Ginger Garlic Paste
2 tsp Ghee
1 tbsp Cumin Seeds
1/2 tsp Coriander Powder
1 tsp of Cumin Powder
1 tsp Garam Masala Powder
Wash and soak the rice for 15 mins.
Heat a pan with ghee, temper with all whole spices.
Add slit green chilies, mint leaves, coriander leaves.
Next, add the ginger garlic paste, saute well.
Add the drained rice and combine well.
Now add the spice powders, salt, and mix.
Add 2 cups water and bring to a boil
Cover with lid and cook till done.
Serve with a raitha or gravy.
Recipe
Shah zeera Pulav | Hyderabadi Shahzeera Pulav
Ingredients
- 1 cup Basmatic Rice
- 4 to 5 nos Green Chillies sliced
- Handful Mint Leaves
- Handful Coriander Leaves
- 2 to 3 Cloves
- 2 Cardamom
- 5 to 6 Peppercorns
- 2 medium Bay Leaves
- 1 inch Cinnamon
- 1 tsp Ginger Garlic paste
- 1 tbsp Cumin Seeds
- 1 tsp Cumin Powder
- 1/2 tsp Coriander Powder
- 1 tsp Garam Masala Powder
- 2 tsp Ghee
Instructions
- Wash and soak the rice for 15 mins.
- Heat a pan with ghee, temper with all whole spices.
- Add slit green chilies, mint leaves, coriander leaves.
- Next, add the ginger garlic paste, saute well.
- Add the drained rice and combine well.
- Now add the spice powders, salt and mix.
- Add 2 cups water and bring to a boil
- Cover with lid and cook till done.
- Serve with a raitha or gravy.
The entire collection of "Biryani / Pulao / Khichadi" Festival - A to Z Biryani / Pulao / Khichadi on SYL & A to Z Quick 30 Minutes Meals on C4AS
[inlinkz_linkup id=817871 mode=1]
Suma Gandlur says
That was a clever twist of using shahjeera for 'S' dish and definitely the pulao is more elaborate than a simple jeera rice.
Vaishali Sabnani says
Shahzeera rice sound quite flavourful with all those spices and herbs , I am sure with such flavours one actually doesn’t require any accompaniment .
Gayathri Kumar says
I prefer cooking my pulao in open pan even though pressure cooker version turned good a couple of times. This type of simple pulao is what my daughter loves the most.
Sharmila Kingsly says
This type of pulao is my fav ,can be made without any buzz for the lunch dabba...saving this..
harini says
This one sounds simple and yet flavorful. It is definitely a perfect dish for the lunch box.
Sushma says
Simple and delicious pulao with shahjeera. Spicy gravy curry might taste awesome with this flavorful rice.
Srividhya Gopalakrishnan says
I love these kinds of simple pulav recipes for lunch. I can gobble this with plain dal or raita too. So good. Between recipes, names are always confusing na... Even I was expecting shahi jeera in this but I love cumin much better. So no complaints 🙂
Swati says
Easy peasy and so flavourful,very nice recipe. Must be a good combo with any gravy.
Renu says
I love the addition of jeera in everything, a big fan of jeera and shahzeera. Loving this pulao completely.