Sugar Snap Peas Pulav with ground coconut and chestnuts

Today’s recipe is one of the best examples of simple Indian cooking with local ingredients from Germany. Sugar Snap Peas Pulav is a mild-tasting, delicious pulav that uses sugar snap peas (Zuckererbsen in German) as the main ingredient. In this recipe, rice is cooked with spices, peas, finely ground roasted chestnuts, and coconut. Coconut and chestnuts render a slightly sweet taste and richness to the dish.

When I made this pulav recently, I paired it with Chole Masala and Boondi Raita.

However, you can serve this pulav with any gravy dish you like. Some of my recommendations are Paneer Makani, Lobia, Palak Paneer, Home-Style Rajma, and Kala Chana Gravy.

Sugar Snap Peas Pulav is a perfect winter recipe. It uses ingredients such as sugar snap peas and chestnuts, which are more commonly available in winter and are, hence, local and seasonal. I have discussed these and other ingredients more at the end of the recipe.

I have already shared many winter recipes. You can check them out in my article: Warm Up with Indian Winter Recipes in Germany.

Also, if you are looking for other pulav recipes, the recipes for Karnataka Style Veg Pulav, Moth Matar Pulav, Veg Pulav in Coconut Milk, Coriander and Mint Pulav and Matar Pulav might interest you.

Now, let’s start with the Sugar Snap Peas Pulav recipe.

Equipment Needed:

Cooking Pot
Knives and Cutting Board
Mixer

Ingredients for Sugar Snap Peas Pulav with ground coconut and chestnuts:

3 tbsp Ghee
1 Handful Cashews
1 tbsp Flax Seeds
2 Bay leaves
1 Black Cardamom
1 Large Onion; thinly sliced
200 gm Sugar Snap Peas
1½ tsp Salt
4-5 Roasted Chestnuts
2 tbsp Grated Coconut
3-4 Green Chillies; slit
1 tbsp Kasuri Methi
2 Cups Rice; washed and soaked for about 30 minutes
4½ Cups Water

Method to make Sugar Snap Peas Pulav with ground coconut and chestnuts:

Grind roasted chestnuts and coconut to a fine powder.
Heat ghee and fry cashews on medium heat. Once the cashews turn light brown, remove them and keep them aside.
In the remaining ghee, fry flax seeds, bay leaves and cardamom.
Add sliced onions. Fry them on medium heat till they turn light brown.
Add sweet snap peas. Add salt and fry them on high heat for a minute.
Add hot water, followed by coconut & chestnut powder, kasuri methi and slit green chillies.
Add rice and mix.
Cook on high heat until 90% of the water is absorbed. Then, lower the heat, cover the pan with a lid and cook till the rice grains turn soft.
Once cooked, fluff it with a fork, garnish it with fried cashews and serve.

Some Notes about Ingredient Sourcing in Germany:

Ghee: Learn more in my article: A guide to sourcing Ghee in Germany.
Cashews: These are called Cashewkerne in German. They are available in supermarkets.
Flax Seeds: These are called Leinsamen in German and are easily available in supermarkets.
Bay leaves: The Indian variety is available in Indian shops. However, you can buy Lorbeerblätter from supermarkets, which is a good replacement.
Black Cardamom: Available in Indian shops.
Onion: It is called Zwiebel in German. It is available in the vegetable section of supermarkets.
Sugar Snap Peas: This is called Zucker Erbsen in German. These are peas in the pod, harvested when they are young. The pod is so tender that it can be eaten along with the peas. Cut the pointy part at the top and bottom and use the rest. These are commonly available during winter in the vegetable section of supermarkets.
Salt: Use regular table salt. Read my article: 10 Types of Salts in German Supermarkets-Explained.
Chestnuts: Chestnuts are called Maronen in German. They are commonly available during winter in the vegetable section of supermarkets. I used roasted chestnuts. You can even use boiled chestnuts.
Coconut: You can use fresh coconut (sometimes available in supermarkets), frozen grated ones (available in Indian shops) or dry, grated ones, called Kokosraspel (available in supermarkets).
Green Chillies: Available in Indian and Turkish shops.
Kasuri Methi: Available in Indian shops.
Basmati Rice: Available in Indian shops as well as supermarkets. If you regularly eat basmati rice, buy a big bag of 5/10 kgs from Indian/Pakistani stores. I like the Heer brand of basmati rice the most. The grains

Some Additional Notes about the recipe:

You can replace flax seeds with cumin seeds as is done in traditional pulav recipes.
Sugar Snap Peas can be eaten raw. When cooked, they need not be cooked for a long time. So, as mentioned in the recipe, sautee them for a minute. Then immediately add water, rice and other ingredients and let the peas cook with the rice.
Roast cashews on medium heat to get the lovely golden colour and make them crunchy.
Always wash and soak the rice before cooking. Discard the water in which the rice was soaked and use fresh water for cooking.