peas pulao and rajma

Last night I made peas pulao in the rice cooker, and rajma in the pressure cooker. Cookers have made my life easier. Since we eat with our eyes first, I tried my hand at getting a taste through pictures. I don't have a fancy camera [... at least not yet... ;-) ], so I tried taking pictures with my Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini instead.

Ingredients

• 1 cup basmati rice
• 2 cups water
• 1/2 cup peas and carrots (frozen) - I later realized this wasn't enough :-s

Steps

1. Wash the uncooked rice enough times so the water runs clear. This helps the rice not be starchy and sticky.
• If you like sticky rice though, you can overcook it with a little more water so that it's a bit more mushy.
2. I combined all my ingredients (washed rice, 1 cup water a stainless steel container. My rice cooker used to be non-stick but is all scratched up on the bottom now, so I fill it up with about 2 cups of water, and then place my container in the rice cooker and turn it on.
• This uses more energy in the long run, but I'm particular about wasting the rice grains when they stick to the cooker. It also helps if you overcook it this way because unlike with cooking rice in a saucepan (which some people do), this won't burn the rice from the bottom if you end up forgetting about it.
3. I forget how long I let this go for, but after the water boils, I think it should take about 15-20 minutes.

Rajma is one my all-time favorite recipes. I love the way the flavor makes me feel. Food for me isn't just something for survival - it's art, it's luxury, it needs to be savored, both while creating it and while enjoying it. While cooking isn't always easy, it's satisfying to create meals that not only taste good, but look good. :-) 

Unfortunately I was so engrossed in cooking, of course I didn't write down any measurements :-( First actual recipe post = not a great success. Next time though I'll make sure to...next time. Until then, enjoy the pictures!