Wash the gobindobhog rice for a couple of times to remove the dust and starch
Soak the cashew nuts and raisins in water for an hour
Allow the rice to dry - this can take around one hour
Finely chop the ginger
Once the rice is dry or at least 80-90% dry, marinade it with all the ingredients mentioned under "For the Rice Marinade" - ghee, ginger, turmeric, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, bayleaf
Allow this to rest for 1 hour
Take a wok and add ghee
On a medium flame, fry the cashew nuts and raisins separately
Cooking the Basanti Pulao
In the same wok, add ghee
Once hot, add the marinaded rice prepared in the previous steps
On a medium flame, continuously stir the rice till the rice grains appear glassy and emits a beautiful aroma from the rice, ghee and spices
Once you have stirred the rice for around 5 minutes, add the cashew nuts and raisins and stir for another minute
Add hot water and cover.
Allow this to cook for the next 15 minutes on a medium flame. You can check in between and if required add hot water
Once the rice is 80% cooked, add the slit green chilies, salt and sugar and mix properly. There should be minimum or very less water in the wok
Cover and allow to cook for another 2-4 minutes
Put off the flame and allow to rest for the next 5-10 minutes
Notes
Frying the rice is important to prevent the pulao from smelling of turmeric powder
The amount of water to cook the pualo is an important aspect of Basanti Pulao. More water would mean a mushy pulao and less would mean a mess. To avoid this, follow the below guidelines
Use the same measuring cup for the rice and water
For one cup of rice, use 1.5 cups of hot water
Using hot water is important, else your rice might turn into a lump while it cooks
Ensure that the rice is dry after you have washed it and before marinading it with turmeric, ghee and ginger
Do not miss out on gobindobhog rice for the optimum flavors. If gobindobhog rice isn't available locally, use any other aromatic varieties except the basmati rice. This can include the jeera samba rice from Tamil Nadu as well.