British Indian 2go Pillau rice

[Cory Ander]

Hi Mick,

Thanks for sharing these recipes.  Are these Raj's influence?  Where is he from, originally?

Interesting that you add lemon juice to your rice.  Also interesting that your reason is to stop the grains from sticking (I guess it changes the pH of the liquid).  I add oil to mine (as you also do) for the same reason (i.e. to prevent sticking).

Also an interesting addition of rose water.  Does this make the rice quite perfumed?  I did buy some rose water, once upon a time, but never really got around to using it much.  I think it is also sometimes used (traditionally) in Kormas, Pasandas, etc.

I have never tried (or seen) "Aeroplane LA Taste" Basmati before.  I'm currently using "Taj Basmati Classic", which is available from Woolies for a reasonable price (around $13 for 5 kg).  Probably less, from an Asian store, if you can find it there.  The grains are HUGE (1-2 cm, cooked) and I love the stuff!

I always wash (and soak) my rice (it invariably says to do so on the packet!  Who am I to disagree?).  You cite some very sound reasons for doing so (apart from culinary considerations)!   

[Aussie Mick]

Hi CA. Raj is from New Delhi. Been in WA for about 4 years. He's worked at Cinnnamon Club, Koh-I-Noor in Padbury, and Masala in Clarkson. He seems to know his stuff and is a real nice bloke with a wicked sense of humour. It's a pleasure to go to work.

The lemon and oil stop the rice from turning to a mush if it's overcooked slightly. As I said, it can take us a good 7 minutes to get all the rice out of the pan and drained after it has been cooked, the lemon helps to keep it stable.

The rose water with food colouring is great. It makes the rice very fragrant. We make up a squeezy bottle with food colouring in (powdered) red and yellow, and squirt it into the rice, then mix it all up when the colour has set.

Thanks for the rice tip, i'll give that one a go. If you want to try the Aeroplane rice, go to Shree Ganesh in Malaga if you're ever up this way. Ask for Mehendra, and mention me (Mike from British Indian) ask him for Aeroplane rice samples and he will give you a few packets of single serve portions for you to try. Other than that, you are always welcome to get some from me. I buy it in 20kg sacks at $57.

[Aussie Mick]

Just thought I'd share this for the people that don't wash their rice.

Again, I ain't preaching, but this batch of rice was washed 10 times before cooking and LOADS of crap came out of it. During cooking, we could see, all these little black specs appearing on top of the water, and they were dead insects....YUCK.

We binned a whole 20 kg batch of rice. Luckily, it was just that one bag that seemed to be contaminated.

[Peripatetic Phil]

Just thought I'd share this for the people that don't wash their rice.

Again, I ain't preaching, but this batch of rice was washed 10 times before cooking and LOADS of crap came out of it. During cooking, we could see, all these little black specs appearing on top of the water, and they were dead insects....

Yay, PROTEIN :-)  Millions of people in the third world would kill for rice with extra protein, insect or otherwise.  (Not saying you should have served it to your customers, but there are two sides to most issues).

** Phil.

[Aussie Mick]

LOL Phil.

I was thinking similar thoughts, and chuckling to myself that if we did serve it to vegetarians...................... ;D

Anyway, it went straight into the bin, our supplier couldn't be more apologetic, and provided a replacement bag.

It just struck a chord with me, as I used to follow Julians recipe and never wash rice, now the thought of NOT washing it, makes me feel sick

[Secret Santa]

It just struck a chord with me, as I used to follow Julians recipe and never wash rice, now the thought of NOT washing it, makes me feel sick

I just can't see it happening in the UK Mick, at least not with the retail basmati (I've been buying 10 and 20kg sacks for decades and never once had even a tiny spec of foreign matter). It does explain why so many books recommend washing it, but it's clearly a geographical thing.

[DalPuri]

I've had rice weevils a few times. If you buy rice by the sack and dont cook so often, they'll find their way to it somehow. But they're no bother. They just float and rinse out. 
Just make sure you wash your rice like you always used to have to do.  If not for picking over stones, then for weevils.

Frank. 

[Aussie Mick]

Yeah Frank

I am always amazed at the amount of dirt that comes out of the rice. Lentils are even worse...lol.

I've seen weevils in flour, but never in rice, but our rice doesn't sit around for too long, we buy it and within the week it's cooked and gone.

SS, it can't be geographical as the rice that I and you are buying are coming from the same area. Australias border and quarantine restrictions are FAR stricter than UK, but every rice batch i have washed is filthy. I didn't realise HOW filthy rice was until I started washing it.... But like I say, if you're happy with it, go for it.

i'm sure boiling water will kill all parasites/germs/god knows what ever else is in there, so it's really not too much of a worry. i don't think it can make you ill. I am just so much happier giving it a good old scrub these days 

[Aussie Mick]

BTW, i never did get around to posting a picture of our rice.

Tis is it. I was a batch of around 30 portions of rice. There was a pack and a half of Shan pillau biryani mixed in, along with dry spices and rose water flavoured colouring. Very nice indeed.

[Naga]

Your rice looks fantastic and fluffy. Guess like my accompaniment to Sunday's Butter Chicken is sorted!