Layered Rice with Nawabi curry

The name looks exotic right?! So is the dish but the process of making it is very easy! As the name suggests, the gravy which is used in the layering has a long list of spices in it and is a rich Nawabi curry. This will not require any side dish, you can just serve it with plain curds or a simple raita. For the rice part, I prepared the jeera pulao recipe that I have already posted. You could use even plain rice or a sweet kashmiri pulao, which will go very well with the spicy gravy.

INGREDIENTS:

• Jeera pulao/ Plain rice - 4 cups
• Ghee - 2 Tbsp
• Tomato puree - 1/2 cup
• Fresh cream - 2 Tbsp
• Salt - as needed
• Oil - for greasing

For the Nawabi curry:

• Onions - 3/4 cup, sliced
• Cashewnuts - 1 Tbsp, broken
• Almonds - 1 Tbsp, chopped
• Coriander seeds - 2 Tsp
• Cumin seeds - 2 Tsp
• Poppy seeds (khus-khus) - 1 Tbsp
• Grated coconut - 2 Tsp
• Ginger - 2 Tsp, chopped
• Green chillis - 1 Tsp, chopped
• Dry Kashmiri red chillis - 4, broken into pieces
• Cardamom - 2
• Cloves - 2
• Cinnamon - 1" piece
• Curry leaves - 6-8
• Water - 4 Tbsp
• Salt - as needed

METHOD:

1. Make the rice/jeera pulao and keep aside
2. Combine all the ingredients under "For the Nawabi curry" and blend it into a smooth paste
3. Heat ghee in a kadai and add the ground paste and saute on medium flame for 4-5 minutes
4. Add the tomato puree, 1/4 cup of water, salt and mix well and cook on a medium flame for 5 minutes, stirring once in between
5. Add the cream, mix well and keep aside
6. Grease a square shaped baking glass dish with oil and arrange one portion of the pulao evenly in it
7. Spread the Nawabi curry evenly and top it with the remaining pulao
8. Cover the dish with aluminium foil and bake in a pre-heated oven at 180C for 5 minutes
9. Turn upside down on a serving plate and serve immediately