Curry Recipes Online
Curry Chat => Lets Talk Curry => Topic started by: loveitspicy on November 08, 2011, 10:18 PM
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Which is the preferred way to colour Pilau rice - putting a little heap of colour powder or using liquid drops also what method do you use - ie; put the colour on then cover with rice let stand then stir through
best, Rich
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I like to make a big batch then freeze so I start off with a big pot of white rice then let drain off and dry in a colander. I'll take off some portions, one for each colour and put them in a plastic tub with lid and pop them in the fridge to chill. Then I'll add food colouring to each plastic tube - usually yellow, orange or red and green. You can either add the food colouring directly in powder form or mix it with a tablespoon or two of water and pour it over the white rice. The little amount of liquid helps it to coat the rice I think. I put the lid back on then give it a shake until the white rice has turned a fairly even colour. I let it dry off for a few hours then mix in with the white rice and voila I have a big batch of pilau rice for freezing in batches.
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Which is the preferred way to colour Pilau rice - putting a little heap of colour powder or using liquid drops also what method do you use - ie; put the colour on then cover with rice let stand then stir through
I use liquid : three drops green, one red, one yellow. Apply to the finished rice, then put lid on and place in low oven (circa 80C) for about 20 minutes for the colour to set, then remove and fork over. No objections at all to use of powder, but would dissolve first.
** Phil.
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I prefer powder, less bleeding ;D. I add a tiny little pile of each (two of yellow and one of the others) when the rice is cooked. Then cover with a teaspoon of rice and leave to stand. Then simply mix through. Results can be seen here:
http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=6070.0 (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=6070.0)
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Good tips on here for all the new comers and old alike i reckon
thanks guys
best, Rich
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You know it's a good Indian when they don't feel the need to do this ;) It's a little 1970's!
Mix a little powder (the very tip of a teaspoon -- the tiniest tip) into a cup, something that won't stain. Add enough water so that the colour is not strong, so it's more like a water colour painting wash. If the colour is too prominent it just makes it look too try hard.
For a pan containing, say, 3-4 portions of cooked rice, just add 1 or 2 teaspoons at the most of each of the 2 colours. Don't be tempted to add more, which is a classic mistake.
It's import to let the colours stand and set for 5 minutes, so put the lid back on and leave it for 5, then fork through the rice. Again, forking it through before the colours have set it another classic mistake resulting in a puke like mess.
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You know it's a good Indian when they don't feel the need to do this ;) It's a little 1970's!
I might /know/ it's a good Indian, but the rice won't taste half as good ! Incidentally, I associate yellow throughout with "naff" and "old hat", whereas I do like to see a few coloured grains to liven up the appearance.
** Phil.
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I might /know/ it's a good Indian, but the rice won't taste half as good !
Half as good, but why? Colouring has no flavour.
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Perhaps for the same reason that the blue ketchup Heinz used to produce tasted wrong, despite the flavour being indentical. Flavour and our perception of taste are two different things!
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Perhaps for the same reason that the blue ketchup Heinz used to produce tasted wrong, despite the flavour being identical. Flavour and our perception of taste are two different things!
Spot on, my friend : spot on ! The psychology (and perhaps even the physiology) of taste is a very strange thing indeed ... Have you (for example) ever taken a mouthful of coffee, when you were expecting to drink tea ? Even if you /love/ coffee, you will (almost certainly) spit it out in disgust, because it fails to match the mental model of the expected flavour that your brain had already constructed long in advance of the actual experience.
** Phil.
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... Have you (for example) ever taken a mouthful of coffee, when you were expecting to drink tea ?
This explains a lot ::) ;D
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Perhaps for the same reason that the blue ketchup Heinz used to produce tasted wrong, despite the flavour being indentical. Flavour and our perception of taste are two different things!
Pink pain killers are more effective than white ones too. Believe it or not. But I'm guessing people were just out right repulsed by a blue food stuff, it's not a natural or at least usual colour for food!
Nothing wrong with presentation of food, but IMO colouring of rice is a pretty bad practice. I like to let the food do the talking for the most part. Food colouring rice in the 70's probably gave the diner some sense of occasion and seemed slightly exotic, but it's a very old hat now and unnecessary for the most part... By all means I'm known to do it once in a blue moon for the novelty factor.
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You know it's a good Indian when they don't feel the need to do this ;) It's a little 1970's!
I obviously have a natural affinity for picking naff restaurants then :o. In fact i don't ever remember eating pilau rice from a BIR that didn't have at least the occasional coloured grain in it. Maybe it's one of the very few things from the 70's that you can still find in BIR's of today, since the 70's taste seems to have all but disappeared according to those that were eating curries during that time :'(.
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Hi All
I'm also guilty of calling the Plain Pilau "Old Hat" But maybe I should have said Classic,
but there are so many fantastic flavoured Pilaus that a restaurant can make, I'm not talking about flavouring the Plain Pilau in a wok with some veg,
but actually adding the flavour to the rice at the beginning.
(http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/pics/54128d6eb9356ff0a4d64e8fdb3bb356.jpg) (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/#54128d6eb9356ff0a4d64e8fdb3bb356.jpg)
If you look at this 2011 Plain Pilau it has all the colours for the eye that the older customers are used to, but its only a garnish
alongside the crispy fried onion.(for presentation)
The rice however is moist and enhanced with delicate Indian flavours, much to the delight of customers young and old.
(http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/pics/f439fceecab71508be64e8c52461573d.jpg) (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/#f439fceecab71508be64e8c52461573d.jpg)
I've just cooked this flavoured Pilau with a little garlic, red onion and spices. Moist and just the way I like it. Very hard not to eat this
as it is, because it tastes so good on its own. But I'm making a Lamb Nihari later and this rice should go well.
cheers Chewy
and a bit later, the resulting Lamb Nihari and Pilau Rice, Bhuna Style, Luvvly Jubbly :)
(http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/pics/9396507be94e3cb35b20ec239d5be8cc.jpg) (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/#9396507be94e3cb35b20ec239d5be8cc.jpg)
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I used to colour my rice but now I just add Turmeric during cooking and settle for a nice yellow colour :)
My rice is in 2 pics here: http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=3830.90 (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=3830.90)
and
one here: http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=1914.60 (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=1914.60)
Cheers
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Both yours, Chewy and mak's look 100X better than the basic pilau food colouring trick. Chewy's added colour into his with the a real function of adding more flavour and texture, and although mak's effort is simple in itself by using a mould, it still looks so much more classy than the done to death BIR dual colour. Also see Chewy is a fan of non-oven dried rice too ;)
Here's a pic of my cummin and onion rice with a mixture of browns to match the nutty taste and autumn weather.
(http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=6227.0;attach=2960;image)
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Chewy - great looking! Madeinbeats what's in - how, etc for you rice - looks great
best, Rich
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Chewy - great looking! Madeinbeats what's in - how, etc for you rice - looks great
best, Rich
^^^
http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=6227.0 (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=6227.0)
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Hi MiB/Rich
Thanks for the Thumbs up, Moist, definitely, especially a quality Basmati.
This Pilau was actually Steam cooked, takes about 20 mins in the steamer,
just another easy way to cook perfect rice at home. The flavouring was Garlic, Red Onion, Butter Ghee, Sea Salt and a shop bought Pilau Biryani spice mix. (SHAN)
cheersChewy
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[...] a shop bought Pilau Biryani spice mix. (SHAN)
Ooh, yes, Shan : I had forgotten them. It might be Shan who make the Nihari masala that I referred to in another thread; I had better cross-post this afterthought in there as well ...
** Phil.