Hi Everyone,
Having read all of the existing methods for making Pilau Rice on the forum that I could find in this section, I thought I'd contribute my own way of doing it. Like the variety of currys that I've tasted in many places, my experience is that no two restaurants have identical rice. Some use loads of colorings and spices, some use hardly any, and there's a million in between. To me, this version comes out quite close to several restaurant versions and isn't quite as complicated as the other ones I've seen thus far.
I'd be interested in what the rest of you think. If this recipe is in the wrong place or isn't quite BIR enough, apologies in advance.
The basic technique is adapted primarily from how to cook rice as described in Su-mei Yu's
Cracking the Coconut book
http://www.amazon.com/Cracking-Coconut-Classic-Thai-Cooking/dp/0688165427/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198521491&sr=8-1, and I pretty-much cook all my rice this way. The following augments the basic technique with other Pilau Rice recipe ingredients and comes out pretty well.
Andrew's Total Absorption Pilau Rice
(normally enough for 3-4 people; total cooking time 35-40 min)
300ml measure of good quality Basmati rice (I normally use Tilda as it is readily available)
1/2 medium-sized yellow onion
4-6 whole cloves
3-4 whole green cardamom pods
3-4 bay/laurel leaves
Ground cinnamon
Sunflower oil
Red and green liquid food coloring (optional)
Method
Wash the rice in cold water 3 times, removing any foreign material or discolored grains. By the third time, the water should be relatively clear. Drain and set aside.
Chop the onion into small-ish pieces. Note: this is subjective, depending on how "visible" you want your onion to be in the finished rice. Place the onion in a heavy saucepan with a tight-fitting lid and add the sunflower oil. The oil should be enough to cover the bottom of the pan, but not enough to start filling up the sides (sorry I can't be more specific, but I never measure this--it's the same amount you'd add if you were to saute onions normally). Saute the onion until translucent over high heat.
After the onions are mostly clear, put in the cardamom, bay leaves and cloves, being careful not to get splattered by any remaining hot oil. Sprinkle in the ground cinnamon to taste (I normally add enough to get a thin layer over the bottom of the pot). Stir quickly and dump in the damp rice and immediately add enough cold water to leave about 1/4 to 1/8th inch above the level of the rice. It should be slightly over 300ml, but again, I just eye-ball it. Reduce the heat to medium-high or medium, depending on how hot your fire and pan is, stir, cover and bring to the boil.
NOTE: The temperature here is probably the most critical part of the process, and I still mess it up from time to time on other people's stoves with other people's cookware, so don't fret too much if it doesn't quite turn out right the first time. Next time put the heat a little lower and it should turn out perfect.
Once boiling, remove the lid and continue to boil until you can no longer see bubbles through the surface of the rice and the pan looks dry. Stir occasionally to ensure that everything stays fairly mixed. Don't over-do it with the heat at this stage, as there won't be enough moisture left to finish cooking the rice.
Cover with a tight-fitting lid and reduce the heat to a low simmer for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, you can optionally work the food coloring magic here. You'll want to dilute it in some water per the KD method, and then make your lines across the rice. If you do this, do it fairly quickly so all the steam doesn't escape. Cover the pot and remove from heat for another 10 minutes. Gently fluff and serve.
Additional notes:
If you want yellow rice, you could add yellow food coloring to the water you add to the rice before brining it to the boil. I'd probably mix it up first separately and then dump it in rather than trying to mix it in the pot. One of these days, I'm going to try it with saffron, but I just haven't bothered.
I normally don't bother with the food coloring at all as I've never thought that part of the BIR experience was that important to me.
The use of ground cinnamon vs. cinnamon stick was really the result of an emergency substitution one day, but I liked the effect (and more importantly, so did my wife), so it stayed. Your mileage may vary depending on how much you like cinnamon. Use one or two small sticks instead if you prefer.
The rice should be nice, slightly sticky, not over-cooked and should not stick to the pot--even in non non-stick ones. If it does, the heat or the water wasn't quite right.
Feel free to experiment with it if you want more or less of any of the flavors, but don't mess with the boil/simmer/stand part of the process, as this is the crux of the method. I also use the basic method to make ginger & lemongrass rice to go with Teriyaki Salmon, and rosemary & marjoram rice to go with chicken dishes, so it's pretty versatile. However, using high-quality rice is essential. Jasmine or Basmati works the best, but stay away from anything that comes in a box or is marked "easy cook" or "American style" if you're outside the US. The results will be less than stellar.
Topic: Yet another Pilau Rice method ( 19,466 )
