Topic: Pilau Rice

[blade1212]

Pete, I'm about to try this but I don't have Ghee. Have you tried oil or butter ? do either work ok ?

[pete]

Sorry the late reply
Butter is fine, in fact I have started using it myself

[hotbot]

Wow Perfect rice. will only do it this way from now on.
HotBot ;D
ps i used 150c in fan asisted Perfect results

[Chilli Prawn]

I use a recipe similar to Pete's, but without Ginger but with whole Fennel seeds.  The latter makes it more aromatic.  Cook the rice to al dente and then you finish off in the oven The best way is to remove the rice from the pan and fluff it up in a flat dish (we use catering trays).  Then cover the rice with foil and put into a low oven (80 ^o C.

I know I have said this before, but the powdered colourings you can buy here are banned in most countries, even India.  They are dangerous in the long term.  Also I have along with one or two others, posted information elsewhere about the dangers of rice, it is one of the most lethal things we consume! It can kill. Sorry to be a bore, and yes we must avoid a Nanny state, but if the Indians are panicking so should we, there are more sources for cheap rice now and it can be very dangerous.  The BIRs (and that includes me and the Western catering establishments) are only allowed (by law) to hold rice in warm mode for 4 hours and then it must be rapidly chilled and frozen or ditched.

Happy (safe ) cooking
CP

[CurryLover_NZ]

I'm slightly confused (again).

Pete mentions that he now boils the rice for 2 minutes and then uses it as directed in the original recipe.

Does that mean that you

a) boil it for two mins, rinse it - until the water is clear- drain it, cook it ? 

Or,

b) boil it for two mins, drain it, cook it - without the rinse ?

I did the former, and it came out a lot more stodgy than before    It was more difficult to rinse (a bit sticky) and didn't seem to 'coat' as well when fried with the spices.

Did I do it wrong     ?

[Cory Ander]

Hi CL,

I presume (but I may be wrong) that Pete means that he prepares the rice (as in his original recipe), but now boils it for 2 minutes (and then drains it) rather than reduce the heat and cook it (on low heat) for 5 minutes?

Once drained, I presume Pete then returns the rice to the pot, adds colour, and sticks it in the oven (as in his original recipe)?

Also check here for an alternative (simpler, foolproof and equally effective) method of cooking Pilau rice....http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=1092.msg9533#msg9533

Pictures of rice, prepared in this way, can be found here....http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=1180.0

Hope this helps 

[Chilli Prawn]

Hi Cory, your method sounds good and almost foolproof.  I would agree that you may lose some flavour in this process, but if you are serving ite with strong curries then it doesn't really matter and presentation takes priority.  I also think that your approach removes a lot of the risks of it going wrong.  So a good one mate for the Forum.

We (my wife is the rice & vegetable cook) wash the rice in a bowl of water 6 times (dare not use the tap as we are on a meter and we do lots ).  It is very similar to your method.

We leave it to soak for about 2 to 6 hours (depends on the quality of the rice).  Meanwhile we soak the whole spices Cardamom, Fennel, Cassia, Cloves, Allspice berries and sometimes white Cumin seeds.

Slice up a large onion, and discard the inner layers because they burn. 

Drain and dry the rice and keep the water.
Drain the spices and add the water to the rice water.
Add a little Turmeric to the water.

We fry the outer areas of the Onions only, until they caramalise.  We remove them and add the drained spices and fry on a high heat for a few seconds and then add the rice and stir in well untill the rice starts to go opaque.  Add the rice water up to one fingers width above the rice.  Add salt and stir in.

Bring rapidly to the boil and then lower to minimum and put a tea towel over the pan and then a lid on top of that.  Cook until the rice is al dente, but do not remove the lid fo at least 15 minutes.

Meanwhile we heat up the oven to about 80 degrees C.

When the rice is ready we put it in a large rectangular catering tray and cover with foil.  Then put it in the oven for about 20 minutes to finish off.

This is a genuine BIR method averaged out (spice wise) because the chefs who have provided us with this all use a slightly different whole spice Masala.

A note on AllSpice.  Not many chefs/cooks today will use this spice, mainly because it is difficult to get whole berries, and ground is not much use.  However, in the early days this spice was used regularly by Indian BIRS in the North of England.  Try it because it gives a super aroma and flavour to the rice.

If anyone thinks it worthwhile I will post this on the recipe page, but I supect this method has been done to death already.

Happy Cooking
CP

[DARTHPHALL]

Post away ya Bugger  ;D

[Chilli Prawn]

Are we back to matters Anal again?  People will start talking ya know, and that could give a bad impression of the Dark Side, i.e. put them off joining. LOLOL

CP

[Panpot]

Over the weekend I had a go at Dylan's recipe having previously been a great follower of Pete's and have to say that the results were excellent. Since I didn't need to heat the oven I have to say that I preferred it and allthough I only soaked the rice in very hot water for 10 minutes the final dish was much better than I expected and until something better shows up I now think I will be using Dylan.s from now on. Isn't it just superb to have such fantastic choices to make because of this awesome site. Thanks again Panpot