Baby Potato Pulao | Lasaniya Batata Rice

Fluffy basmati rice with garlic potatoes all in one pan? Garlic Baby Potato Pulao or Lasaniya Batata Rice is a delicious and warming rice recipe that's perfect for the weekend! This vegan and gluten-free pulao is spicy, packed with flavour and filling as a main meal.

I call this recipe Lasaniya Batata Pulao because this rice dish is made from baby potatoes stuffed with a masala made from gujarati lasan ni chutney. The baby potatoes are cooked first in oil to give them a wonderful texture and colour.

This is a recipe that you won't find anywhere else because it's one that my Mum came up with when she had some leftover garlic chutney from making Packed Potato Bhajiya. She chose to stuff baby potatoes with a masala made with garlic chutney, fresh tomatoes and ground spices. She added chickpeas to add flavours and texture to the rice.

Traditionally, lasaniya batata is a Kathiyawadi Gujarati recipe of boiled then pan-fried baby potatoes cooked in a spicy garlic gravy.

In this recipe, the potatoes are "lasaniya" or garlicky because they are stuffed with a dry red garlic and tomato mixture that is potent.

Serving Suggestion

This pulao packs in plenty of flavour so it is best eaten as a main dish.

It is wonderful just as it is or goes wonderfully with cooling raita like Butternut squash raita or classic cucumber raita.

I love it with Kachumber salad on the side.

Roasted or fried papad/poppadoms are always a good idea with any Indian rice dish.

I also love my rice dishes with yogurt drinks like caramel lassi or a super creamy Rose Lassi.

Ingredients

Basmati rice - washed and soaked for half an hour in cold water. We use a good quality basmati rice which makes such a big difference in rice dishes.

Baby potato - you need baby potatoes or salad potatoes for this recipe as we need potatoes that hold their shape well. Prepare the potatoes by peeling off the skin and using a sharp knife, make a cross into the potatoes but leaving one end intact.

Boiled chickpeas - the addition of boiled chickpeas adds extra texture and flavour to the pulao. The chickpeas take on the flavour of the masala really well and blend in so well with the rice and the potatoes. We have cooked our own chickpeas in the instant pot but you can use tinned as well. Drain and wash the chickpeas well before using.

Garlic Chutney - we have used Gujarati Lasan ni Chutney for this recipe. It takes 5 minutes to make and is so good in this recipe.

Spices - red chilli powder, turmeric powder, ground cumin and coriander, garam masala. To keep the rice from becoming too spicy, reduce the amount of red chilli powder as some will also go into making the garlic chutney.

Tomato - fresh red tomato works best of any variety. Finely chop it so it can easily be stuffed into the potatoes.

Fresh finely chopped coriander for garnish.

Oil - use a flavourless or mild oil like sunflower or olive oil that is suitable for cooking with.

Vaghar (tempering)

These are the ingredients required for tempering.

Oil

Mustard seeds

Cumin seeds

Curry leaves

Dry red chillies - go easy on the dried chillies as they too impart their own heat. You could add the dried chilli to the vaghar and then remove it after prior to cooking the rice.

Hing - or asafoetida. Hing is used to aid digestion. If you do not have it, simply leave it out.

How to make garlic baby potato rice

Here are the basic instructions to make Baby potato pulao. For the exact ingredient amounts and steps, check out the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

1. In a large bowl combine cold tap water, some salt and turmeric powder. Peel the potatoes using a sharp knife, make a slit horizontally and vertically but leaving one end intact. If some of them cut all the way don't worry you can still use it. Add potatoes to the bowl.
2. In another bowl take rice and wash under running water until water comes out clean (this step will remove lots of starch). Soak rice at least 30 minutes in cold water. Make sure you use tap water not from the fridge.

1. Mix garlic chutney, red chilli powder (lal mirch), turmeric powder (haldi), ground cumin and coriander (dhana jeeru powder), garam masala, finely chopped tomatoes, freshly chopped coriander/cilantro (dhaniya), oil and salt. I used spoon to mix everything.
2. Next, remove the potatoes from the water. Fill all of them with the ⅓ of garlic chutney masala stuffing pressing down slowly and carefully. (If you put too much pressure, they might break.
3. Mix, boiled chickpeas in the remaining masala and leave it aside.

1. Prepare vaghar (tempering) by heating oil in a thick bottom pan or kadai.
2. Add cumin and mustard seeds, once they crackle add hing.
3. Then add dry red chillies, curry leaves and sauté just for few seconds.
4. Carefully add stuffed baby potatoes into the pan and lower the heat.
5. Cover the pan with the lid and let the potatoes cook in it’s own steam for 10-12 minutes.
6. Keep checking in between, if needed add couple of spoons of water
7. When potatoes are almost cooked, add all the masala and chick peas.

1. Mix gently and cook for couple of minutes.
2. Add soaked rice.
3. Mix gently and add enough water to cook the rice.
4. Add salt for rice.
5. Once again cover the lid and let the rice cook.
6. Once rice is done, let it rest for 3-4 minutes before serving.

Tips for the best pulao rice

This recipe is best made with long grain basmati rice because it is less sticky than medium or short grain. You could also use sella rice which is specially used for biryani due to its holding ability upon cooking.

Soak the rice at least for 30 minutes in COLD water as this is what ensures each grain of rice is separate and fluffy. Rice should never be washed and/or soaked in warm or hot water otherwise it starts cooking and will lead to poor cooked rice. The longer you leave the rice, the quicker to cook and fluffier the end result will be.

Remember that different types and brands of rice cook differently so adjust the overall cooking time and volume of water according to your rice.

Use baby potatoes as they hold their shape better after cooking.

Add the potatoes first and allow them to cook until they are about 75% done otherwise the rice will overcook and become mushy if it is all added at the same time.

You can adjust the spice level by adding more tomato and less garlic chutney and chilli powder. You can also add the dried red chilli to the vaghar for flavour but then remove it if you do not want it to become spicy.

Storage

How to store baby potato pulao? Let the pulao completely cool and put it in a air tight container. Store in the refrigerator for 1-2 days. Reheat before consuming it, you may want to add a teaspoon of rice.

How to freeze lasaniya Bateta pulao? Allow the rice to go cool totally, put in an airtight and freezer safe container or zip lock freezer bag. This rice can be frozen for maximum 4 weeks but best eaten in 2 weeks. Make sure to label with the recipe and date.

How to thaw frozen rice? Take out the container of the rice and leave it on the kitchen worktop for 3-4 hours then add in the microwave safe bowl and heat it in the microwave.

Other rice and baby potato recipes

• Vegetable Pulao

• Takeaway style pulao rice

• Tawa Pulao Recipe

• Burnt garlic tofu fried rice

• Yaki onigiri (grilled rice balls)

• Swaminarayan khichdi

• Doodh Pak/Paak

• Marwari dum aloo

• Schezwan/Sichuan Potatoes

As always if you make this recipe, be sure to leave me a comment, rate this recipe and tag me on Instagram @jcookingodyssey or #jcookingodyssey. I love seeing all your photos of my recipe recreations!

Don’t forget to follow me on social media using the buttons below – I can't wait to see you all there!

• Instagram
• Facebook
• Pinterest
• YouTube

Note – This recipe has been updated from our recipe archives with new images and content, but the recipe remains the same. First time published in February 2016.