Caramel Rice - Sweet Pulao - Andhra Telugu Recipes - Indian Vegetarian Food

Ingredients:

• Rice – 1/2Cup (120gms)

• Water – 1 1/2Cups (380gms) {To Cook Rice}

• Onion – 1 (60gms)

• Green Chilies – 2 (Spicy Variety)

• Cumi Seeds – 1/4tsp

• Cinnamon – Small Piece

• Cloves – 2

• Cardamom – 1

• Salt – To Taste (1/4tsp)

• Oil – 1Tbsp

• Sugar – 1/2Tbsp

• Water – 1 1/2Tbsps (To Caramelize Sugar)

(Online Conversion utility to convert Gms to Cups & Temperatures etc)

Preparations:

Peel onion and cut it into thin slices. Wash green chilies and finely chop them. Take a bowl and add sugar and water to caramelize sugar. Heat this sugar bowl and dissolve sugar. Once sugar is dissolved do not stir the sugar solution with a spoon---if needed, hold the vessel and swirl it. When sugar caramelizes, switch off the flame and add the measured water for cooking rice into it---observe that water gets the caramel color.

Take a bowl and add rice. Add water to rice and wash well rubbing between fingers. If needed wash rice two to three times changing water.

Method:

To make caramel rice let us use rice cooker. Into the rice cooker bowl add caramel water and switch it on to “Cook Mode”. Cover the rice cooker with lid and allow the caramel water to get heated up---meanwhile make other preparations.

Heat a pan and add oil into it. when oil is hot add cumin seeds followed by cinnamon, cloves and cardamom. Then add chopped green chilies and fry stirring on low flame. Then add sliced onions and fry stirring on medium flame. Keep stirring while frying to evenly fry the onion slices. Fry the onion slices till they lose raw smell and starts changing color to brown. Then add washed rice and mix well. Fry the rice on low flame stirring continuously till all moisture evaporates. When rice stops sticking to the pan while frying, it indicates that all moisture is evaporated---then switch off flame. Transfer the rice mixture into the rice cooker and add salt and mix well. Cover the rice cooker with lid and allow rice to cook. While cooking, observe that the space is filled with a nice aroma. Cook rice mixture in rice cooker for 15 minutes and then switch it to “Warm Mode”. Allow the rice cooker to cook in “Warm Mode” for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes switch off the rice cooker and remove the rice bowl from rice cooker and keep it aside. Observe that rice is well cooked. Using a fork, fluff up the cooked rice so that each grain is separated. Using a fork to fluff up rice would not break the cooked grains. Cover the bowl with lid and allow it to rest for 2 minutes. After 2 minutes transfer the rice to a serving plate and serve hot with any gravy dish. Slightly fried onions, when cooked in caramel water, gets a sweeter taste. The spices and the caramel water give the rice a mild color and flavor. While serving rice with any gravy dish it, flavored rice preparations give a nice look and taste than ordinary plain rice. Serve hot the caramel rice with any gravy dish of choice.

Points To Observe:

To get deep color use some extra sugar to caramelize it.

Always remember to add water to caramelize sugar. We need to dissolve sugar completely and then caramelize it. sugar when heated without adding water, melts and caramelizes but some sugar granules appear as crystals even after getting the color. To avoid this, it is advisable to add water to sugar and melt it till sugar is dissolved completely.

The spices are added in small quantities to balance the caramel flavor.

While cooking rice in rice cooker, I use three portions water for one portion of rice. Adjust the amount of water according to the rice one is using.