Rice is a staple food in Indian cuisine. Its versatility makes it gel easily with any side dish and curry. That’s why it has gained tremendous popularity among rice lovers.
Today, I will walk you through a step-by-step guide to help you make corn pulao at home. As you can figure out, the main ingredient will be rice.
Corn pulao is one of the tastiest variants of pulao, combining the goodness of tender corn kernels, Indian traditional spices, onion, and herbs. You can prepare this recipe at home for lunch, dinner, or a hearty brunch on weekends. What makes it more satisfying is combining it with raita, salad, and any side curry!
You can make corn pulao in many ways. You can prepare it from freshly cooked rice or leftover rice. You can use sweet corn or desi corn, whichever you prefer.
So, here is a step-by-step guide to help you make corn pulao recipes at home. Let's get started!
Ingredients you need:
- Soaked basmati rice/leftover cooked rice
- Oil/ghee
- Cumin seeds
- Cinnamon sticks
- Black peppercorns
- Bay leaves
- Chopped onions
- Ginger garlic paste
- Corn kernels
- Chopped capsicum
- Salt to taste
- Turmeric powder
- Red chilli powder
- Milk
- Water
How to prepare corn pulao:
- Rinse 1 cup of basmati rice well, and let it soak in the water for about 20 to 30 minutes. After that, drain the excess water, and keep it aside. We have used Jashn basmati rice, but you can choose any other variety of rice.
- Now, take 1.5 cups of corn kernels and keep it aside as well.
- Take a pan and add ghee/oil to it. Set the flame low to medium.
- Once the oil/ghee is heated, add cumin seeds, bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, and black peppercorns.
- Let the spices crackle for a few seconds. Then, when the fragrance starts coming out, add the chopped onions.
- Sauté the onions until it turns golden brown. Make sure it doesn’t get burned.
- Once the onions turn golden brown, add garlic-ginger paste to it and sauté for about a minute. Make sure the raw garlic-ginger fragrance is gone.
- Now add corn kernels and chopped capsicum to the mix. Sauté the mixture for a few minutes.
- Add turmeric powder, red chili powder, and salt to taste.
- Mix everything well.
- Now, add the soaked rice to the mix.
- Add a bit of milk and sauté the mix.
- Add water and mix everything well.
- Cover the pot's lid and let it cook for a few minutes.
- Your corn pulao is ready! Serve it hot with a raita or curry of your choice.
Note: You can add or remove any ingredients. Some people love it with green chatni. You can cook it using the green chatni or the way we discussed. You can also enjoy corn pulao rice with papad.