Topic: Peterandjen's Pilau Rice

[Cory Ander]

Posted by peterandjen and moved to here by CA

Ive got a fool proof works every time no matter how many servings Pilau rice recipe, have a gander.
Per person 75g Basmati rice
Per person 1 quarter pint Water
salt to taste.

Wash rice really well until water runs clear.
sieve and allow to dry (dryer the better) about 20 mins
In a pan add a tablespoon of oil, 1tsp Fennel seeds and a stick of Cinnamon.
Heat until seeds start to crackle, throw in rice and stir till coated with oil.
Chuck in the cold water and salt and bring to the boil.
Cover pan with a tight lid and place on lowest heat for 5:30 secs.
When time is up, remove from the heat and allow to stand for 5:30 secs witout removing lid!.
When times up remove lid and give it a good forking, ahem, to fluff it up.
Perfect pilau rice and a spotless pan.
The cooking times are for a gas cooker, with an eccentric cooker allow 8:30 secs for both stages.

[Gezh]

Thanks for this recipe Peterandjen.

I used it last night as it looked simple, and I've never made pilau before. Fantastic! It worked amazingly well, so much better than the overboiled gloopy rubbish I usually end up with.

I modified the quantities for my tastes - 100g and 1/3 pint water per person. May try adding some other spices next time like cardamom.

My rice will never be the same again, and the stupid thing is making rice this way is probably easier than the way I used to do it - you just have to leave it alone!

[peterandjen]

Im glad it worked for you:)
The best recipes are the simple ones, even an idiot like me can do them lol.
Ive got a good naan recipe aswell ill dig out, the only thing with this one is it uses packet yeast and it takes an hour to rise.

[gazman1976]

ok i tried this recipe, i have an electric cooker at the moment , its horrible lol, cant wait to move again, i tried the times suggested , 8.5 mins each , wasnt long enough but it looked ok, next time i will add cardomons and also cloves plus turmeric as i prefer yellow pilau rice like Glasgow indian restaurants, i think 10 mins should do it for electric ! ps - first time i tried it i doubled the ingredients

Good post

Garry

[joshallen2k]

ps - first time i tried it i doubled the ingredients

That's the problem, especially with recipes like rice. Not much in BIR cooking scales well, except for naan bread. I wonder if you're giving peterandjen's pilau a fair shake.

Peterandjen - some pics would help as well.

I noticed your pilau includes only fennel and cinnamon. Bay leaves, cardamon, cloves, all feature frequently in BIR fayre. Have you tried including some of these in your method, and how was the result?

-- Josh

[peterandjen]

As far as spices go id just throw in whatever you fancy, i usually put in a pinch of black onion seeds as well sometimes but i dont go for overly perfumed spices like cloves and cardamons, but its a personal taste thing.

As for weights and measurements as long as you stick to  75grams of rice and 1/4 pint of water per person, ive never had a single problem. Ive done it for myself, for 2 3 4 6 people all the time just following those weights and its been honky-dorey.

The only problem you can have is the heat of your simmer, i used to have an eccentric cooker and that took 8 and a half minutes simmer the same steaming.
Then we binned that and bought a proper cooker what uses gas, and after a little bit of trial and error reduced the time to 5 and a half for both.
Oh and MAKE SURE your pot lid is a tight fit, if not put a sheet of tin foil over the top of pan then press your lid down onto it tightly. As its really the steaming thats the most important thing. thats what gets your rice fluffy.
Ive passed this recipe on to a few friends and family members and they love it.

I can take photos,only i cant get my head round this reducing the size lark lol. I can cook the rice fine but foto's? nope not yet.

[gazman1976]

i am again trying this recipe, this time with the exact recipe and measurements, i have added 2 green cardomons, 2 cloves , little bit of turmeric for the colour and 1 star anise, got the timer on so will see how it goes this time !

Garry

[gazman1976]

ok i tried and failed, rice was cooked but not the distinct flavour of a scottish BIR - foto below lol

[peterandjen]

Blimey is that oil or water?
It is hard to tell is trhat basmati rice and if so was it washed and dried?
Ill make a portion for 1 sometime today and get a pic or 2 posted because that stuff you cooked just isnt right lol.
Ill follow the recipe to the letter. as i always do.

[pforkes]

I gave this a shot, this evening, and made 150g worth (twice the amount given in the recipe).



I think it could have done with 6-minutes cooking time (a little more than stated in the recipe), as it came out a little damp.

It will go well with my chicken vindaloo.