Simple Vegetable Rice cooker Pulao

For all those who use a electric rice cooker, don't you think its a neat gadget to have in your kitchen?...Put the rice in there are leave it to do its thing...no worries and you have perfectly cooked rice ready in time you finish your rest of the cooking!

I do appreciate my rice cooker and I have gone through quite a few of them to really appreciate them. The rice cooker I have now, even has a delay timer on it and it vows to cook perfect rice each time, even if its soaked for long. Well it does, so if something goes wrong, its our fault or  the rice cookers fault...:)

Anyways, I have often used to make pulao, even non-veg pulao, and they have come out beautifully. Only good thing is put it on and forget about it till its done.
So here is a simple Vegetable pulao made in the rice cooker with only whole garam masala and veggies.
Use frozen veggies for an easier option.

Ingredients:

2 cups Basmati rice, soaked for atleast 30 min.
(when using a rice cooker for basmati rice, I put less water. So for 2 cups of Basmati rice, I use 3 1/4 cups water)

1 - 1 1/2 cup of various veggies like cauliflower, beans, carrots, peas, potato (chop into small pieces, so that they cook easily)
1 onion, chopped
4-5 green chillies, slit
1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste

3-4 black peppercorns
4 cloves
2 pieces of cinamon stick
3 bay leaves
1 anise star
1 tsp jeera
1 tsp shahi jeera or kala jeera

2 tbsp oil
salt to taste
2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves and mint / pudina leaves
1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves for garnish

Method:

Heat oil in a kadai. Add the whole garam masala and let them brown for few seconds.
Add the onions and green chillies and saute for a minute. 
Add the ginger-garlic paste and saute for few seconds. Add the veggies and saute for only a couple of minutes till they start cooking. Add this mixture to the soaked rice which is in water.
Add enough salt, so that the water should taste slightly salty. This way the pulao will have enough salt when cooked.
Add the chopped coriander and mint leaves to the water.
Cook in the rice cooker till cooked.
Add the fresh chopped coriander leaves before serving.

(ANOTHER OPTION: Drain water from soaked rice and Fry the soaked rice in 1 tbsp butter on stove top. THen return it to the cooking water.)

Serve this with any side dish, veg or non-veg.
Enjoy!!!