Pulao, a favorite spiced rice dish in India, comes from the Persian word for cooked rice, 'polo'. The original dish dates back to the
Mughal period, with a strong Persian influence since the Mughal emperors admired and emulated Persian culture. There are many variations on the pulao theme, but rice is always the main component. A pulao may simply be rice fried in ghee with whole spices and cooked in stock, always by the absorption method; it may also incorporate vegetables or chicken or seafood or lamb, lentils or cubes of cheese. When spiced rice and savory meats are combined in layers and finished by steaming or baking, pulao tastes like
biryani.
