Dill leaves/sabasige soppu is a key ingredient in Akki Rotti. Everytime I buy dill leaves for Akki rotti, a portion of it always gets left behind because I can’t use the entire bunch in making rottis. The recipe today was born out of the need to finish up the excess dill leaves in my fridge.

I decided to use it in pulao. It was a sheer experimental dish but it turned out to be amazingly tasty. We are in love with this recipe 🙂 The enticing aroma of the dill leaves with the piquancy of the whole spices work extremely well together.

Read along for the detailed recipe:

INGREDIENTS:

Dill leaves – 1 small bunch

Onions – 1 – chopped finely

Tomatoes – 1 – chopped finely

Paneer Cubes – few

Rice + Quinoa / Rice Only / Quinoa only – 2 cups

To grind:

Coriander leaves – 1/2 bunch

Mint leaves/ Pudina – 1/4 bunch

Garlic – 1 to 2 cloves

Ginger – 1/2 inch

Cloves – 1/2 tsp

Cinnamon stick – 1/2 inch

Peppercorns – 1/2 tsp

Cumin seeds – 1/2 tsp

Green chillies – 1 to 2 (optional)

Tamarind Paste – 1 tsp

For tempering:

Cumin Seeds – 1/2 tsp

Bay leaf – 1

Star anise – 1

Cloves – 3 to 4

Cinnamon stick – 1/2 inch

For Garnishing:

Onions – slit lengthwise – caramelised

METHOD:

**I used my Instapot for preparing this, check notes for details**

Grind the ingredients mentioned under the ‘to grind’ section into a smooth paste using 1/4 cup of water. Keep it aside.

Now, in a pressure cooker pan, heat 2 tbsp oil or a combination oil and ghee.  Add the ingredients under the ‘For tempering’ section and sauté for some time.

Add the onions and sauté until translucent.

Now add the tomatoes and sauté till mushy.

Then add the chopped dill leaves and paneer. Mix well and sauté for about 3-5 minutes before adding the ground paste.

Fry the ground paste for few minutes till the raw smell reduces.

Now add the washed Rice/quinoa/combination of both. Add in the required amount of water and salt. Mix well. And pressure cook for 1-2 whistles max.

Garnish with some caramelised onions.

Serve hot with some onion-cucumber raita!

NOTES:

*Instapot users: For the first frying, use the sauté mode on normal heat. And for the final cooking Manual high pressure for seven (7) mins NR.

*Quinoa typically requires 1:2 ratio of water for general pressure cooking, but do reduce the quantity a little since the veggies also leave some water.

*For instapot cooking, the water used was 1:1 ratio.