Bengali pulao or Basanti pulao: A rice dish flavoured by whole spices and raisins

1. Wash the rice very well and spread it out to dry fully.

2. In a pan set the water to boil.

3. In a deep-bottomed pan add the oil. Once it is warm, add bay leaf, cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves.

4. Now add the dried rice in the pan and mix with the spices and the oil very well.

5. Now add ginger paste turmeric or saffron and sugar. Mix it very well.

6. Then add the raisins, cashew nut and the green peas. Give it a final stir and before the rice grains turn brown, add the hot water.

7. Cover and cook it over a medium flame for 10 minutes.

8. Check for doneness. If the rice grains are still a little hard, cover and let it sit for another 5 minutes on a very low flame.

9. Keep it covered until serving time.

Note:If you want the pulao to be richer in taste use 125 grams of ghee or clarified butter instead of oil.

Serve Bengali Pulao with Cholar Dal, Kosha Mangsho or Paneer curry.

Here is the recipe for cholar dal