This rice dish is based almost entirely on Madhur Jaffrey's, Spiced Basmati Rice recipe, with a couple of tweaks and alterations. It uses the absorption method of cooking, so your measurements must be precise.
Spiced Basmati Rice, serves 3-4
For the rice you will need:
2 cups Basmati rice (the rice is measured by volume rather than weight, hence the cup. I just used a plain mug in this case.
4 tbsp's of cooking oil
1 medium sized onion, peeled and finely diced
1 medium sized green chilli, very finely diced
2 garlic cloves, finely diced
1 tsp Garam masala
1/2 tsp salt (1 if your stock is unsalted)
2 2/3 cups of chicken stock (use the same sized cup as the one you measure your rice out with)
6-8 cracked cardamoms
1 decent sized stick of cinnamon
1-2 star anise, depending on how strong you wish the flavour to be
2-3 curry leaves, dried or fresh (fresh is better)
Place your rice in a bowl and carefully wash in several changes of cold water. When you think your rice is clean and starch free, wash it again!
Drain.
Cover the rice with fresh cold water, and leave it to soak for 30 minutes.
Drain the rice again, and leave it to dry in a sieve for around 30 minutes.
Heat your oil in a deep sided pan, over a medium flame, and when hot, add your diced onion.
Stir and fry until your onion pieces have browned ever so slightly. If they burn, bin the lot, shout and swear (like I did) and start again. Make sure your onion pieces do NOT burn, even in the slightest.
Add your diced garlic and chilli, stir, and fry gently for around 3 minutes.
Next, add your aromatics. So in goes the cinnamon stick, the cracked cardamoms, the curry leaves, and the star anise. Stir them for around 30 seconds.
After 30 seconds, add the garam masala and gently fry for a further 30 seconds.
Now add your washed and dried rice grains, and GENTLY fold them around the pan, until every single grain has been coated in oil. Be careful not to mix the rice too vigorously, or else it will become mushy whilst cooking. This process should take around 2-3 minutes.
pour in the chicken stock, stir gently, and bring the rice to a gentle rolling boil. (If you're using stock pots, or cubes, just dissolve 1 or 2 with the water, before adding to the pan).
The level of the water in your pan should be around 1 inch above the rice.
Next, take the lid of your sauce pan, cover the lid with foil, and place it tightly and firmly on top of your rice.
Turn your heat to very, very low, as low as you can get it, and cook very gently for 25 minutes. DO NOT lift the lid and have a look at how it's doing. It will cook, you just need to have faith.
If you're using gas, and a very low flame, make sure that your doors and windows are closed, or else you run the risk of your flame being blown out (again, I found this out the hard way, which did not go down too well).
After 25 minutes, lift the lid, and admire the result. All of your aromatics will now be on the surface of your rice, so you can easily remove them, rather than running the risk of biting into a cardamom pod whilst eating your tea.
Once your aromatics have been removed, if you wish to add colour, add the colour, place the lid back on, and leave for another 10 minutes or so. The residual steam will continue to gently steam the rice when the lid is back on.
After 10 minutes, fluff your rice to combine the colours, and jobs a good un.
It looks like a lot of work, but it only takes around one hour in total, and you can just rinse the rice quickly and stick it straight in if you're on a schedule.
Topic: Chicken Tikka Makhani and Spiced Basmati rice ( 5,135 )