Name: Fragrant Pilau Rice
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/fragrantpilaurice_67870Ingredients:450g/1lb basmati rice (for a more authentic flavour and texture it is best not to use easy-cook rice; however, it will still work and be very tasty if you do)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
large knob butter, plus extra to serve
4 cardamom pods
8 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
pinch saffron threads
2 bay leaves
600ml/1 pint hot chicken stock, vegetable stock or water
salt
1/2 tsp Turmeric (added by me, Rob)
Steps:To make sure you get lovely fluffy rice, wash it in several changes of cold water, then leave to soak for about 30 minutes in fresh cold water. If you don't have time for this, place in a sieve and wash under the cold tap for a minute or so.
Cook the onion in the butter for around 5 minutes until softened.
Add the spices, saffron and bay leaves and cook for a couple more minutes. The spices will give a wonderful fragrant flavour to the rice.
Add the rice and stir until the grains are coated in the butter before stirring in the stock or water and salt. Bring to the boil and then cover with a tight-fitting lid. If the lid isn't very tight, cover the pan with aluminium foil before putting the lid on.
Turn the heat down low and leave to cook for 10 minutes before turning off the heat. Don't remove the lid; just leave the rice to continue cooking in the pan for about 5 minutes until you're ready to serve.
The rice should have absorbed all the water and will just need fluffing up with a fork. Add a knob of butter before serving.
My Notes:We've made this a number of times now, always with great success. I've always done the washing and leaving to stand for 30 minutes, I do feel it makes a difference to straight cooking the rice (I use the same rice for various dishes)
I think adding the 1/2 tsp of turmeric adds to the rice a little, particularly to give it the nice yellow colour one associates with pilau rice (at least in the UK)
I've made it a few times with a half portion of rice. The first time halving the number of cardamon pods, cloves and using only half an onion, the second time with all ingredients as full apart from rice halved and stock halved. Both worked fine and having full spices didn't overwhelm the rice as I thought it might.
I don't use the extra knob of butter before serving.
My kids don't like it, but the first time I made it my wife couldn't have enough of it. She ate way more rice than she would normally
My bay leaves are dried, and while I use saffron threads (once without, can't say I noticed them being missing) they are v expensive (basically €2 for a medium sized pinch) and makes the dish cost more than I feel it should.
While I don't like sultanas, I do wonder if they might make a nice addition to the rice.
The rice has worked well as the side to Butter Chicken and Tikka Masala. Would quite happily eat it on its own someday or use it as the basis for a biryani (like, oh I don't know, a chicken tikka biryani)