Anaamika, I haven’t made it for a while but here’s what I remember having to do.
Take oil or butter/ghee and melt it over low-medium heat on the stove.
Add the requisite spices to the amount of rice you’re going to make-I add cinnamon stick, a few cardamom (de-podded but I throw the pods in there too), whole cloves and a bay leaf with a bit of sugar.
Once the sugar has melted, add the rice and sautee over medium heat for a while, making sure to get all of it well-heated through and covered with your fat of choice.
Dump in rice cooker with whatever frozen vegetables you’re going to add (I just add a pawful of some frozen peas/carrots/corn mix)
Add water and one Maggi veggie-spice bouillon cube. Or a few strands of saffron (I just thought that up). But if you’re using the Maggi veggie bouillon make sure to crush it and mix it up in water ahead of time so that it distributes evenly over all the rice.
I always add a little bit more water than the level on the rice cooker tells me so even if the rice at the bottom sticks it doesn’t burn.
This is how I remember doing it. Tell me if it worked out for you.
Ha, and it needs to be delivered by some sweaty guy with it balanced on one shoulder. I’m not sure if we get 20 or 25 kg sacks delivered. We have a rice storage box that holds 12 kg and that’s only about half of a bag.
does anyone know where I can get the really short brown rice? I got some at the California state fair and it has ruined me for the stuff we get labeled as brown rice. It did not seem as processed and was so short it was almost spherical.
I just forgot Anaamika, you can give it a slightly more biryanish flavour if you bake it for 15 minutes or so afterwards in the oven. It will dry the rice a bit. I know that’s sort of crossing the line between a pulao and a veggie biryani and I’d probably only do it if I had time.