Vegetable Pulao

This is my family creation, started by my grandmother and it goes delicious with the gujarati kadhi! It is so simple and delicious that it can be eaten alone with yogurt or with the kadhi and it would taste just as good! Great for taking to work for lunch as well ;)

Ingredients:
1 cup basmati rice
1 carrot, peeled and diced into tiny pieces
1/2 cup peas
2 small potatoes, peeled and diced into tiny pieces
4-5 small cinnamon pieces
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon garam masala
a pinch of asafoetida(hing)
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
salt to taste

Method:

Soak the rice in a pan with 2 1/2 times the quantity of water, for about 1/2 hour.

In a large saucepan, put oil on medium heat. Put cumin seeds, asafoetida and cinnamon pieces and let them be till you hear a crackling sound. After that put in the carrots, potatoes and peas and saute them for a couple minutes. Add in the garam masala and salt and saute again. Put in the rice and the water and let it cook, keeping the saucepan covered!

After about 20 minutes, stir the pulao mixture to remove any stuck pieces at the bottom. Keep stirring occasionally till all the water has evaporated, and the rice does NOT appear sticky! Its ready to eat! :)