Wash the rice 3-4 times throughly with water. Keep it soaked for 10 minutes
In your cooking pot, add the ghee and let it melt. Add the whole spices (except the mace) and once they turn aromatic, add the onion, ginger and garlic pastes
Fry over medium flame, until the raw smell of the pastes go away. Be careful to not let them brown, otherwise your pulao will not remain yellow
Drain the rice and add it to the cooking pot, mix well, coating each grain with the ghee, whole spices and onion mixture. Pour 500g of water and stir gently
Add the salt, sugar, turmeric, mace, chilis, cashews, almonds, raisins and mix gently. Turn the flame to medium high and cook until the water on the surface of the rice evaporates. Thereafter, lower the heat to minimum, cover and cook for 7 minutes
Remove from heat and let it sit covered for another 7-10 minutes. Serve your amazing Bengali basanti pulao with a curry or dal of choice and enjoy!
