Zesty Orange Pulav

I normally use zest of orange in cakes or sweet for flavouring. The zest of orange gives wonderful aroma in the cake. This time i tried this zest of orange  for rice which turned out really good. This recipe goes to the event Best Out Of Waste by Nithu's kitchen. 

Zest of orange and zest of lemon gives such and wonderful aroma to your food, if you haven't tried so far, start trying now, you'll definitely love it.

Serves 2 to 3
Ingredients:
Basmathi Rice-1 1/2 cup
Orange zest grated-1 tsp
Orange peel- 2 inch strip chopped finely
Onion- 1 medium sized sliced finely
Red Pepper-1/2 sliced finely
Peas-1 tbsp
Carrot- 1 medium sized grated
Ginger-1/2 inch grated
Cinnamon stick-1/2 inch
Cinnamon powder-1/2 tsp
Chopped almonds-1/2 tbsp
Ghee or butter-1 tbsp
Juice of 1/2 an orange
Salt as required
Method:
Wash the orange well and wipe it with a clean kitchen towl. Peel a thin strip of orange outer skin using a peeler and chop it finely, also finely grate 1 tsp of orange zest and set it aside.
Heat ghee in a pan, add cinnamon stick, grated ginger,almonds and onion, keep it in medium to low heat and fry it gently until the onion becomes transparent in colour. Now add the vegetables and stir for 2 to 3 minutes, finely add the zest and orange peel, stir well, immediately remove from heat.
Wash the rice well, add the vegetable mixture along with rice, juice of orange and salt to the rice cooker and cook until the rice is cooked.
Serve the rice with vegetable or chicken curries.
Tips:
This is not regarding this recipe, but a beauty secret with orange peel may be most of you are using it already. Peel the orange skin, tear it into small pieces, sun dry it completely, thsi might take even a week  in very hot climate. Blend it into a powder in a blender, mix with honey or yogurt and apply as a facepack, or use it just as a powder to wash the face. It's a very good scrubber. Regular use results in glowing skin, smooth skin.