Curry Recipes Online
Curry Chat => Lets Talk Curry => Topic started by: natterjak on August 11, 2012, 02:35 PM
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When I cook pilau rice I use CurryHell's recipe, 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) but I batch cook a large quantity and freeze into takeaway tubs because I find it by far the most time efficient way of doing it. So I thought I'd take a few snaps of today's batch as I cooked it, in case it's of interest...
This isn't really a recipe (hence not posted in the recipe section), more a rough guide and illustration of how I've scaled CH's recipe.
First get that oven on at fan 160 deg C and pop a large (5 litre plus) casserole dish in, with 75ml oil inside it.
Now measure 1 tsp cloves..
(http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/9467/1344688688620.jpg)
1 tsp fennel seed..
(http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/9085/1344688732298.jpg)
1 star anise
(http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/3678/1344688759691.jpg)
1 black cardamon
(http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/1193/1344688790861.jpg)
a few green cardamon...
(http://img827.imageshack.us/img827/2108/1344688829340.jpg)
about three quarters teaspoon white cumin and half teaspoon black cumin
(http://img837.imageshack.us/img837/2069/1344688860422.jpg)
1 teaspoon salt...
(http://img534.imageshack.us/img534/6052/1344688900784.jpg)
some small pieces cassia bark
(http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/6739/1344688926092.jpg)
asian bay leaves torn into pieces
(http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/4751/1344688957194.jpg)
tip these spices into the preheated casserole dish and oil and return to oven for 5 mins..
(http://img849.imageshack.us/img849/5222/1344689002409.jpg)
Meanwhile measure out 6 large mugfulls of basmati rice, about 1250g and get 2 litres of water on the hob to boil
(http://img593.imageshack.us/img593/1429/1344689045503.jpg)
pour rice into the casserole dish to join the oil and spices
(http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/5910/1344689097682.jpg)
pour the 2 litres of boiling water into the dish, mix then return to oven for 15 mins, after which it will emerge looking something like this...
(http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/8660/1344689135524.jpg)
add food colouring of your choice... I used red, pink, yellow, orange, green and fairywing transparent colourings. I might've lied about one of those though...
(http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/6923/1344689331674.jpg)
turn oven off then return dish to oven for a few mins to set the colours. Leave to cool for up to 2 hours then mix through to distribute the coloured grains...
(http://img853.imageshack.us/img853/4245/1344689386715.jpg)
Portion up into takeaway tubs ready for the freezer...
(http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/1055/1344689417638.jpg)
the above quantities (6 mugs rice, 2 litres water, etc) are what I call a batch, and today I cooked two batches to produce the yield shown in that last photo (23 portions). These will freeze to give me a handy supply of rice I can grab from the freezer and microwave for 3 mins to produce perfectly acceptable pilau. One point to note, most people would probably add more salt than me, I prefer less so only use 1tsp for quite a lot of rice.
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Nice one Chris. Very useful for anyone who like you prefers to have their pilau rice to hand rather than having to cook it fresh everytime. Simple instructions, minimal fussing and more than acceptable results everytime ;D Never tried it straight from the freezer. I normally defrost it in the fridge first. i 'll give this a ago as i like to have a couple of portions in reserve for emergencies ;). Will be cooking it fresh today though along with the elaichi North Indian Special for supper after the pub - again ;D . I'll be picking up some tamarina as well just to see if there's any great difference between that and the East End Tamarind sauce. I'll also be making up a job lot of CT's red masala sauce for future use along with my sheek kebab mix for portioning to be used in my keema rice :P
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Thanks for the post and pictures NJ.
I will definitely be trying this method soon. 8)
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Certainly looks very appetising and I am just about to make this my project for the night.
The only thing i am lacking is the black cumin and in all fact I didn't even know it even existed?
More importantly is the fact that my only casserole dish type of thing is my halogen oven bowl which has no lid (The lid was the mechanical part that housed the bulb and failed) I see in CH's original write up that a lid was used.
Did you also use a lid and is it really that important?
If so I can always resort back to Chewys Shan Rice, but it would be nice to give this a go, it certainly looks the part from your excellent picks NJ.
Thanks for your time and effort.
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Ah Ha!
Just had a major brainstorm, Now where did I put my tin foil?
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Excellent post NJ.
Thanks for the illustrated steps.
It makes following a recipe far easier when I can see what it should look like at each step.
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Well I've given it twenty minutes now as at the 15 mark there was still a surplus of water.
I used my makeshift lid so maybe this should have been done with no lid?
Just added the colour, red is all I have, so now is the two hour wait. :-\
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My final take on this is that it didn't work for me.
I don't know where I went wrong, I went for gas mark 4 of which I understand is 175c.
Infact I only have real success when P/C rice.
Never mind, a new casserole dish may be the way forward!
(http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/pics/04edf7cc7b085d17533a200184de6765.jpg)
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Wow... Tommy...just, wow... I have no idea
Yes you should use a lid, and 175 deg seems about equivalent to 160 deg in a fan oven. Only big difference maybe is your dish was glass and hence would insulate the contents from the oven's heat rather than allow the water to boil and cook the rice. Maybe that's why you had excess water.
From the photo it looks like the rice has all stuck together - what kind of rice was it? Decent basmati shouldn't do this.
Sorry you had no successs but all I can say is I've been using this method with these proportions since CH first posted his recipe. I must have turned out a good 8 or so batches with consistent good results so it works for me. I would definately get yourself a decent stainless steel stockpot (amazon has loads to choose from) and try this again with good basmati like veetee brand, etc.
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I used Badshah Basmati rice, this was also an experiment to see if this ex halogen oven bowl could be used as a casserole dish, I half expected it to crack.
Belive you me I am no cook by any means so it is great that I can accomplish a curry on here but for things that take a bit more finesse.
As for my cooker, it was given to me. The numbers are still on the dial but I have to guess how far to turn it as the stop mark has disappeared. ???
Of all the possibilities I do believe it was the above heat setting that I had wrong.
Never mind, without a doubt your rice looks fantastic in those pics and your step by step couldn't be any better.
Unfortunately it is just my amateur approach. ;)
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>:( >:( :'(. From your picture TB i can't work out whether the rice is over cooked or undercooked. I use a glass casserole dish with lid as opposed a metal one used by Natterjak. But we still get the same results. Nothing wrong with the brand of rice you're using. I've used it for years. I have found that rice from my latest bag only needs cooking for 12 mins as opposed to 15 though. I don't think your cooking capabilities are at fault here, it's more about not being able to set the tools to do the job. Setting the oven temp seems a bit hit and miss. You can't really afford this when cooking rice ???.
A new casserole dish may not be the answer given your settings problem but there is an easy solution to retrieve the situation.
I arrived at this method because i was forced to use an electric hob, which does not lend itself in the slightest to cooking rice by absorbtion, which IMO is the best methiod, hence the oven coming into play. It was derived from cooking perfect rice on a gas hob, whether for 2 people or for twenty plus.
I know you have a gas hob so use that. Use Natterjacks measurements
Oil in saucepan and heat
Add whole spice and fry till aroma given off
Boil kettle of water
Add rice and stir for a min till heated and all coated with oil
Add suggested water volume to rice (Unlike Natterjak i don't use measurments for cooking rice. As long as there's a 1/3 inch of liquid above the rice, it will turn out just fine, big pot or little pot ;D )
Bring back to boil, add salt and stir.
Turn to lowest setting possible where gas is just about on.
Cover top of pan with foil, put on lid and crimp foil to keep steam in.
Cook at lowest temperature for 15 minutes.
Turn off and leave undisturbed for five minutes - DO NOT BE TEMPTED TO PEEK
Remove lid and foil, take out whole spices and add colouring .
Lid and foil back on and leave for fifteen minutes to fix colouring
Remove lid and fork over then replace lid again
This can then be transfered to a warm oven if use is very soon or left to go cold and reheated as required
That should sort out your rice issue ;)
Let us know how you get on
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My final take on this is that it didn't work for me. I don't know where I went wrong, I went for gas mark 4 of which I understand is 175c. Infact I only have real success when P/C rice. Never mind, a new casserole dish may be the way forward!
Sorry to learn of your disaster, Tommy. All I can say by way of consolation is that having tried all possible ways of cooking pulao rice, I now use the microwave oven method 100% of the time with 99.5% success rate; all of the other methods have had a far higher failure rate. Indeed, I have recently been enjoying my home-made pulao so much that I was thinking of starting a thread entitled "The Joys of Pulao Rice", because it is just so enjoyable in its own right. I think I posted my microwave recipe recently, but just in case it's not easy to find, I repeat it below. Did you ever get down to See Woo, by the way, and did they have all that you were looking for ?
** Phil
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Pulao Rice the Microwave Oven Way
Put some ghee in the bottom of a Pyrex casserole (with lid), cook on full power for five minutes, remove from the microwave oven and add your pulao spices : star anise, cardamom (green), one or two cloves at most, some cassia bark, Indian bay (not European), torn into pieces (the tearing is important), kala jeera (black cumin), a little fennel, and any other whole spices that you think important. Cook with lid on in a microwave oven for five minutes. When the spices have been pre-cooked, add one cup of thoroughly washed (and then drained) good quality basmati rice. Stir gently, then cook in the microwave oven for two minutes at full power. Remove from the oven again and add 1 teaspoon of sea salt (or less, to taste) and sufficient water to cover the rice to a depth of 1/3". Stir gently, replace the lid and cook in the microwave oven for 12 minutes on full power. Remove from the oven and check. It should be near-perfect : nearly dry, yet soft. If it is not, compensate : cook for a minute or two longer if it is still too wet; add a little more boiling water and cook for a few more minutes if the grains are hard when chewed. When it is perfect, fluff it gently, then add (very sparingly, and as far apart from each other as possible) two or three drops of green liquid food colouring, one drop of yellow, and a very small drop of red (or none at all : it is usually the red that spoils the appearance). Place in a pre-warmed conventional oven at 80C for about 20 minutes to complete the drying and set the colours. Remove from the oven, fluff gently to distribute the colouring and serve.
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Thanks for the advice lads,
One thing I did regret at the time was instead of stiring the rice when It was added to the oil I gave it a mega stir when I added the 2 litre of water.
No problems, at least I live where things are cheap and cheerfull and readily available.
I am content with my two versions of P/C rice but am more than happy to try other recipes, thats why I'm on this forum.
I think I will have a go at the microwave method at some point but seeing I'm cooking for myself most of the time I really have no need to cook on mass. I had an afternoon at a barbecue yesterday and was in lager lout mode.
As for getting over to See Woo, as yet my other half has got her claws into me to decorate her flat so up untill thats acheived it's on hold. I know where it is as I used to use a Halfords over there , just on a 108 through the Blackwall tunnel.
Anyway, enough of my ramblings, at this very minute I have c2g homestyle ginger chicken on the go. :)
Another Ruby Murrey Sunday! ;)
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As for getting over to See Woo, as yet my other half has got her claws into me to decorate her flat so up untill thats acheived it's on hold. I know where it is as I used to use a Halfords over there , just on a 108 through the Blackwall tunnel.
Anyway, enough of my ramblings, at this very minute I have c2g homestyle ginger chicken on the go. :)
Another Ruby Murrey Sunday! ;)
Remember when the 108 used to go to the Green Man :)