Spiced Basmati Rice Recipe

[Guest guest]

Okay everyone,

 

This is my absolute favorite rice recipe. It's super delicious. I have taken

then original recipe and altered it slightly to make it vegan (it's already

gluten-free!).

 

FYI - the recipe is from Indian Cooking by Madhur Jaffrey. If you aren't

familiar with her - check her out! Indian Cooking is a good book, but contains

a lot of meat dishes. Try looking into her World Vegetarian cookbook. It's

well worth the money...there are so many amazing recipes in that book and great

information too. Anyway...the following recipe may seem like it takes a bit of

time to prepare - but it's completely worth it.

 

By the way, if anyone needs a recipe for garam masala, I have one that can be

posted as well...

 

 

Spiced Basmati Rice

 

Ingredients:

2 cups (450g) basmati rice

3 tbs veg oil

1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped

1/2 a fresh, hot green chilli, finely chopped

1/2 tsp minced garlic

1/2 tsp garam masala

1 tsp salt (little more if stock is unsalted)

2 2/3 cups (570ml) veg stock

 

Put the rice in a bowl and wash it in several changes of water (usually around 5

or 6 times - until the water is clear, or mostly clear). Drain. Pour 5 cups

(1.25 litres) fresh water over the rice and let it soak for half an hour (no

need to be exact with the amount of water - just make sure you cover all of the

rice). Leave to drain in a sieve for 20 minutes. (I actually use my colandar -

the holes are small enough that the rice can't slip through)

 

In a heavy-bottomed saucepan (I've found that non-stick works best), heat the

oil over medium flame. Once it's hot, put in the onion. Stir and fry the onion

until the browned lightly (this can take anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes - and it

seems always happen when you least expect it). Add the rice, green chilli,

garlic, garam masala, and salt. Stir everything gently for 3-4 minutes until

all the grains are coated with oil. If the rice starts to stick to the pan,

turn down the heat a little bit. Next pour in the veg stock and bring the rice

to a boil. Cover with a very tight-fitting lid, turn the heat to very, very low

and cook for 25 minutes. If you prefer, you can put the pan in a preheated over

for 25 minutes - 325 degrees F (170 degrees C).

 

 

 

Just some stuff that I have learned from making this dish a few times:

 

Non-stick has been the most successful. I've tried other pots and the rice not

only sticks to the bottom, the rice never seems to fully absorb all the liquid.

 

Every double batch I have made leaves the rice a little undercooked and really

wet(could be due to the pot I have - it isn't non-stick).

 

I like to add a little more fresh chilli pepper to it - spicy!

 

I've substituted cayenne pepper (dried) instead of the fresh chilli and it

wasn't nearly as spicy, but my neighbor's one-year-old love it.

 

Substituting water for the stock doesn't work all that well. It's pretty bland.

 

I usually add more garlic to the recipe - and even then, most of my friends

can't taste it.

 

I've tried the recipe with jasmine rice and basmati rice - both turn out yummy.

 

I'm still trying to find a recipe it goes well with! I usually eat it on it's

own...as a snack or sometimes as a meal!

 

Dan