This dish brings back so many memories. Aloo matar tehri is a kind of vegetable pilaf especially popular in the state of Uttar Pradesh (UP) in India. Even though I grew up in and around Delhi, my origins are from UP and so this was something mom would often make for dinner when she was not in the mood to make dal and roti. I was not the biggest tehri fan around but that has to do with the fact that I’m not a big fan of rice in general but even then I enjoyed this dish whenever mom made it. It’s funny how you start missing these small things as you grow up and move away from family. I mean I would have never thought that I would be craving for tehri one day but I did! Since past few weeks, I have been literally dying to make this and so when I spoke to mom last week this is how our conversation went.
Me: Hey mom, I am craving tehri, tell me how you make it?
Mom: Umm, you put spices along with rice and cook it.
Me: *Thinking* wow that was helpful [NOT].
I think mom assumes that since I’m a food blogger now I can pretty much make all the stuff even if she tells me the recipe in just 1 line!
Anyway determined to make this tehri, I decided to rely on my memory – memory of spices, aroma and taste. I thought of all the flavors present in this wonderful one pot meal. First there were tons of whole spices like cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, peppercorn, mace, bay leaf. I am not sure if star anise was added or not but I went ahead with it anyway.
And then of course were the vegetables. In my home, mom always made tehri with potatoes and green peas. You can obviously add any vegetable you like but because I grew up eating only this combination, it was obvious that I ended up adding only these 2 veggies in my tehri.
So keeping in mind all these flavors I started cooking my tehri. Somewhere in between the cooking process, I knew I was on the right track. The reason? My kitchen smelled exactly like it did when mom made it. All the aroma of spices convinced me that I am going to get this right. For me getting this recipe right was basically getting it to taste like how it was made at home. And yes when I finally took a bite, I was thrilled because the flavors were exactly the same. The first thing that I did was tell mom that I made tehri and that too exactly like how she made it!
This vegan one pot meal is extremely flavorful and easy to put together for dinner on busy weekday evenings.
Method
Soak rice in enough water for 15-20 minutes. Drain and set aside.
Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a pan on medium heat. Once the oil is hot add cumin seeds and let them sizzle. Then add the whole spices – bay leaves, cloves, black cardamom, green cardamom, cinnamon stick, mace, peppercorns and star anise. Saute for few seconds till you get a nice aroma of all the spices.
Add the sliced red onions, sliced green chili and cook for 2 minutes or till they become translucent and there’s no raw smell.
Add ginger garlic paste [fresh is preferred] and cook for 2-3 minutes or till the raw smell goes away.
Add the cubed potatoes and green peas and give a good mix.
Now add turmeric powder, salt, coriander powder and mix.
Cover the pan and let the potatoes cook for 2-3 minutes on medium heat.
Remove the cover , the potatoes will be slightly cooked by now. Add 2.25 – 2.5 cups of water and let it come to a boil.
Once the water starts boiling, add the soaked and drained rice to the pan.
Mix lightly till combined. Be gentle while mixing as you don’t want to crush the rice grains.
Cover the pan tightly with a lid and let the rice cook on medium heat for 10-15 minutes or till rice is soft and nicely cooked.
Add chopped fresh cilantro leaves. You can also squeeze in some fresh lemon juice here.
Serve aloo matar tehri hot with some yogurt on the side.
Enjoy the aloo matar tehri with a cuppa of chai! As kids we used to love having the leftover for breakfast next morning.
* Adjust spice levels to taste. You can see I added only 1 green chili and that’s because there’s already enough heat [for me!] with all the whole spices. But feel free to use more green chilies if you like spicy food.
* You can use any veggies of your choice. Cauliflower, carrots will work well.
* Use fresh ginger garlic paste rather than store bought. Chop ginger and garlic roughly and then crush them using your mortar and pestle. Fresh ginger garlic paste adds in so much flavor, try it and notice the difference.
Aloo Matar Tehri
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups rice soaked for 15 minutes and drained
- 2 onions sliced finely
- 1 green chili sliced [adjust to taste]
- 1 potato cut into cubes [use 2 potatoes if using small ones]
- ⅓ cup green peas [i used frozen]
- 2.5 teaspoons ginger-garlic paste
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ½ teaspoon coriander powder
- 3 tablespoons oil
- salt to taste
- garam masala powder to sprinkle
- cilantro leaves chopped, to garnish
- 2.25 - 2.5 cups water
whole spices
- 7-8 small peppercorns
- 1 star anise
- 2 bay leaves
- 2-3 black cardamom
- 5 cloves
- 1 sprig of mace
- 2 small cinnamon stick
- 2 green cardamom pods
Instructions
- Soak rice in enough water for 15-20 minutes. Drain and set aside.
- Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a pan on medium heat. Once the oil is hot add cumin seeds and let them sizzle.
- Add the whole spices - bay leaves, cloves, black cardamom, green cardamom, cinnamon stick, mace, peppercorns and star anise. Saute for few seconds till you get a nice aroma of all the spices.
- Add the sliced red onions, sliced green chili and cook for 2 minutes or till they become translucent and there's no raw smell.
- Add ginger garlic paste [fresh is preferred] and cook for 2-3 minutes or till the raw smell goes away.
- Add the cubed potatoes and green peas and give a good mix.
- Now add turmeric powder, salt, coriander powder and mix.
- Cover the pan and let the potatoes cook for 2-3 minutes on medium heat.
- Remove the cover , the potatoes will be slightly cooked by now. Add 2.25 - 2.5 cups of water and let it come to a boil.
- Once the water starts boiling, add the soaked and drained rice to the pan.
- Mix lightly till combined. Be gentle while mixing as you don't want to crush the rice grains.
- Cover the pan tightly with a lid and let the rice cook on medium heat for 10-15 minutes or till rice is soft and nicely cooked.
- Add chopped fresh cilantro leaves. You can also squeeze in some fresh lemon juice here.
- Serve aloo matar tehri hot with some yogurt on the side.
Nutrition
Aloo Matar Tehri – Spicy Potato Peas Pilaf
Im a keralite. seeing this dish for first time
but want to make it , Can you tell me what rice is good for this? Is basmathi rice ok?
Hi Hanan, basmati should work fine. I have used that as well, however in UP it’s made using the smaller grain rice.
I tried this today for lunch and it was absolutely phenomenal. It tasted so much like the bhoger khichuri we eat in Calcutta during Pujo. 🙂
I have one question though, I followed your measurements of rice and water and yet my tehri did not come out that dry. My rice was somewhat stuck together? Could you tell me how to fix that?
Thanks!
Thanks Ruchika, glad it turned out well for you 🙂 As as the rice-water measurement is concerned, you know every rice is different. It does take some time to get the right amount of water for the rice you are using. If your rice was stuck and mushy, add less water the next time. So just try till you get the exact amount! Hope that helps 🙂
This is SO perfect for me to make for myself and my vegetarian family – we love our Indian spices, aromatics and flavours! Thanks Manali!
Hope you like it Thalia! 🙂
Oh yum! I thought I’d sampled every Indian rice dish (I loooove rice) but obviously not! This looks great 🙂 My mom is the same way! “Amma, how do you make your bise bele bath?” “Just go to the spice cupboard everything is there!” “….”
haha it’s an Indian thing Medha! everything is just a guess! lol n Thanks! 🙂
Manila your post made me giggle. So not sure if you know or seen, but my hubby is Pakistani. He was born there and moved here about 30 years ago. With that being said I’ve ask his ammi numerous times to show me how to make paki food and her response is, “You put this much in your palm, then this spice into your palm, but not to much. Haha how am I suppose to learn that way. I am so surprising my honey with this. Shhh our secret. Could I add some gosht (beef) to it? Ps do you speak Urdu? Pinned!!
Oh wow, that’s awesome Cyndi! haha that’s how people in India and Pakistan cook! It’s call “andaaz” [eye ball measurement]. No one knows the measurement, it’s all andaaz!! haha.. Tehri is actually also popular in Pakistan so your husband will love this and yes of course you can also put gosht (yes I understand urdu ;), in India we do use a lot of urdu words]. You can cook the meat before adding to the rice. Thanks for the pin!
I love your mother’s answer when you asked how to make this dish — hilarious! She knew you’d get it right, didn’t she? It looks so delicious, and being that I love rice dishes, I know I’d really enjoy this!
haha I guess yeah she thinks that because I have a blog I can pretty much manage such recipes! Thanks Marcie!
Wow that looks so good. I can almost smell the aroma….and your pics, they r beautiful 🙂
Thank you Manju! 🙂
This is one of my favourites! Beautiful clicks, as always!
Thank you Angie!
That looks delicious Manali! I’m not the biggest rice fan either, but this looks like it would have a ton of flavour, and I’m pretty sure I would love it! Pinned!
Thanks Satcey! Oh yes, it’s very high on flavor!