Tastic Pilau Rice
Join us on a journey across the globe with Tastic Rices of The World, creating the most exquisite dishes in the comfort of your own home. Our first destination is India where we will be creating a dish fit for the royals. Basmati is known as the “Prince of Rices”.
Serves: 4
Time: 30 minutes
Recipe by: Lazy Makoti
Ingredients:
2 cups basmati rice
8 cups boiling water
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 cloves
3 cardamom pods, lightly crushed
5cm cinnamon stick
For the onions;
2 onions
3 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon butter
½ teaspoon mustard seeds
To serve:
Spicy Curry
Dhal
Method:
Rinse the rice in cold water to remove any excess starch.
Pour water into a large pan and bring back to the boil. Add the salt, turmeric, cloves, cinnamon, and cardamom. Stir to dissolve the salt.
Add the rice to the water and stir gently. Bring to a simmer and cook for 8-12 minutes until the rice is just cooked. (There will be lots of water left in the pan)
Drain the rice using a sieve, or fine holed colander, remove the whole spices, and set the drained rice to one side until the onions are cooked.
Start on the onions;
Peel and slice the onions into thin half-moons.
Heat the vegetable oil and butter in a large skillet or frying pan.
Cook the onions over low heat until they have softened and are starting to caramelize. Add in the mustard seeds and stir gently.
Add the drained rice into the onions mixture and gently stir to combine.
Check the seasoning and add more salt as required. Enjoy with curry or dhal
Chefs Tip:
- This rice makes for a royal accompaniment to spicy curries, breyani, wakhni, dhal, pilau of even sweet puddings.
- Rinsing the rice to remove any excess starch ensure that the pilau rice becomes light and fluffy
- You can easily make pilau rice and freeze it too! Simply wait until it is completely cooled after cooking, then place it in a freezable container or bag for up to 2 months.