A flavorful and nutritious Punjabi rice recipe, this Wadi chawal is a delicious wholesome meal. Made with aromatic whole spices, wadiyan and basmati rice, this wadi pulao or biryani is a heathy meal for the whole family.
Rinse the rice and soak for 20 minutes. Then drain and keep aside.
Heat 1 tablespoon oil a heavy bottom sauce pan on medium-high heat. Add the crushed wadi and saute it until it is lightly browned while stirring continuously. This takes about a minute. Take out and keep aside
In the same pan, heat the ghee. Add all the whole spices and saute them for 30 seconds until their aroma releases.
Then add diced green chili pepper, sliced onions and sauté for 2-3 mins until golden brown.
Now add the drained rice, wadi, salt, garam masala and stir well. Now add the water and stir.
Adjust the heat to low. Cover the pan and cook until all the water is absorbed. This will take about 10-15 minutes. Turn off heat.
Add lime juice and fluff the rice with a fork. Let it sit uncovered for 5 minutes. Serve and enjoy with cooling raita!
Instant Pot Method
Follow the instructions to saute the ingredients on saute mode.
Cook on Rice mode for 12 minutes on low pressure. When the pressure cooker beeps, do a 5 minute NPR, which means let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes, then manually release the pressure by turning the valve to venting position.
Open the lid, add lime juice and fluff rice with a fork. Let it sit uncovered for 5 minutes. Serve & enjoy!
Notes
How much water?
When cooking the pulao on stovetop in a pan or in a stovetop pressure cooker, use 1 cup rice to 2 cups water ratio.
When cooking the pulao in instant pot, use 1 cup rice to 1-1/4 cup water ratio.
How much wadiyan?
If using Amritsar Urad dal wadi, just add 1-2 wadi per cup of rice for this pulao. I used 1 wadi for each cup of rice in this recipe, so that kids can eat the pulao too.