It is a very delicious & special type of pulao because it is very sweet in taste and looks very colorful. So anybody can identify this basanti pulao. As the color of this pulao is bright yellowish (basanti), so it is called as basanti pulao. The taste of this flavorful pulao is sweet, so it is also known as Misti polao in Bengali. It is often prepared for various traditional Bengali festival. It is often offered as prasad or bhog for puja/worship of Hindu God/Goddess. this basanti pulao is often included in traditional Bengali style vegetarian food menu. Flavorful gobindo bhog rice is used to make this awesome Bengali mishti polao. If you are a Bengali or living in West Bengal/Bangladesh then you have definitely tried this several times in your life.
So did you ever try this misti polao? I love this.
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It is often served with dum aloo, paneer based dishes, beguni (brinjal fritters), green jackfruit (echor) curry etc. It is also enjoyable with fish curry, mutton curry, chicken masala etc. So you can prepare a menu according to your preference.
I ate this pulao several times in my life. But I never prepared it at home. Though I knew it is very easy to make and only a few ingredients are needed to make it. But still, I never cooked it at home.
But during this lockdown period, I prepared it a few numbers of times. From the first day, I prepared it perfectly because it is a simple dish and anybody can make it at home.
Misti polao/Basanti pulao recipe
- 400 gm gobindo bhog rice
- 2.5 teaspoons ginger (adrak) paste
- ½ cup cashew nuts
- ⅓ cup kishmish/raisin
- ½ cup sugar
- 3 teaspoons turmeric powder (Haldi)
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 3 bay leaves/tej patta
- 3 cardamoms/elaichi
- 3-4 cloves/laung
- 1 teaspoon rose water, optional
- Salt to taste
- 2-3 tablespoons ghee
- Water for cooking (for each 1 cup of rice add 2 cups water)
- Wash gobindo bhog rice twice and soak it for atleast 30 mins, now drain its water
- Add ginger paste, garam masala, ghee to the soaked rice and mix properly
- Now heat ghee in a cooking pot and add whole cardamoms, cloves, bay leaves and saute till nice aroma comes out
- Then add cashew nut and saute, add raisins/kishmish too
- Add rice and stir to mix with all spices, sprinkle turmeric powder, stir again
- Now pour warm water and boil for next 7 minutes and then add sugar, rose water and stir to mix
- Boil it again till rice is perfectly cooked
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