Aloo Matar Tehri – Spicy Potato Peas Pilaf

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

Manali

Aloo Matar Tehri is a one pot Vegan spicy Rice Pilaf with Potato and Peas.

5 from 1 vote

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Cuisine Indian

Servings 3

Calories 573 kcal

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

Calories: 573kcalCarbohydrates: 97gProtein: 10gFat: 15gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 70mgPotassium: 587mgFiber: 7gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 125IUVitamin C: 22.4mgCalcium: 108mgIron: 4.6mg

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 Aloo Matar Tehri – Spicy Potato Peas Pilaf