Topic: Best pilau rice recipe?

[chewytikka]

Hi natterjak
Never been a Pilau Rice lover myself, prefer plain Patna rice.
But I would say that the original RobinB recipe is very close to BIR.
mikeyp is also spot on the money
In my experience, most restaurants keep the plain pilau rice warming
in the oven and if you order it, that's what you get, straight from the pan in the oven.

But if you order a flavoured pilau, a portion is stir fried in a wok with
extra oil, mixed powder, and your chosen addition.
Here's a typical list of variations:-
Mushroom Pilau
Vegetable Pilau
Onion Pilau
Garlic Pilau
Chilli Pilau
Lemon Pilau
Egg Pilau
Keema Pilau
Nut Pilau
Peas Pilau

cheers Chewy

[curryhell]

Well, i think that's closure on how to make any rice dish on the BIR menu .  Anybody just embarking on BIR cooking journey will crack the rice issue first time by simply reading the contents within this thread, using the RobinB recipe and looking at Dips vid for mushroom pilau to glean the method to achieve the other rice dishes.  Using the suggested recipe, with a little tweeking of the whole spices if desired, careful adding of minimal colouring, if wanted, will result in a good BIR pilau which is the base of all the other rice dishes.  My experience is exactly the same as CT's re. the pot of pilau in the oven being kept warm and the simple method of frying the desired additional ingredients in oil with onions, meethi if wanted and a little mix powder.
I have only once had a disaster when cooking rice and that was my first attempt.  I am sure I'm not alone in this experience either if the truth be told ;D.  I ended up with a pot of what can only be described as "gloop" .  This was a little concerning as the general concensus was that the cooking of rice was simplicity itself.  The next effort was edible but unexciting.  Then i stumbled across the absorption method which is what I've used ever since, some 25 years ago or more even .  Every time it comes out perfect, whether is a cup full for two, or a cauldron for 20 which is a little more daunting a thought ;D ;D.  The point of my post other than stating "look no further than this thread if you want to be able to replicate BIR pilau and its derivatives" is to share a little gem of a comment that i read in a curry recipe book.  Unfortunately i can't give the individual credit for this as the name of the  book and the author  escapes me, being such a long time aga.  But i will be forever thankful for the tip that was given.  One of the hardest things that people grapple with when cooking rice is the volume of rice to water.  Too much and you end up with "gloop" or "stodge".  Too little and you have hard and sometimes even crunchy starchy grains.  The key to the volume issue - add sufficient water and cover to the level of a finger nail above the rice(and i don't mean the wife's acrylic talons from the local nail bar ;D) .  My nails are pretty average and in measurement terms that's approx 1/3 of an inch.  I'd be interested to read others comments on this and their rice cooking disasters / experiences, methods and views on this.

[martinvic]

Just to add to that, I've found the thorough rinsing and soaking is really important/essential to avoid a lot of the gloop/stodge issues.
A bit time consuming but I believe that gets rid of most of the excess starch that makes the rice sticky.
I think I skimped a bit on this on my very first attempt and the rice was still a little sticky.
So, ever since, I really go to town with the rinsing and it always comes out great, with well separated grains.

NJ if you use bottled food colouring, I dip a thin handle of a teaspoon in the bottle and then dab it around on the rice. Leave it to fix for a bit (lid on) then mix gently with a fork.

Martin

[Peripatetic Phil]

My nails are pretty average and in measurement terms that's approx 1/3 of an inch.  I'd be interested to read others comments on this and their rice cooking disasters / experiences, methods and views on this.

Yep.  I always use the absorption method, generally think in terms of 1/4 inch excess water, but am more than happy to believe that it might be 1/3 inch.  And I also went overnight from "can't cook rice" to "I'm in rice heaven", but unlike you my "can't cook rice" period lasted several years   Incidentally, I always cook my rice in the microwave oven, and use the wok only for initial and/or final frying -- 12 mins at full power, then tickover at 10% until needed.

** Phil.

[Peripatetic Phil]

Just to add to that, I've found the thorough rinsing and soaking is really important/essential

I've always maintained this (and still do, to my wife, who being oriental likes her rice sticky) but Undercover Curry say "don't bother rinsing at all, just fry the dry grains", and much to my amazement, it works !

** Phil.

[curryhell]

Just to add to that, I've found the thorough rinsing and soaking is really important/essential

I've always maintained this (and still do, to my wife, who being oriental likes her rice sticky) but Undercover Curry say "don't bother rinsing at all, just fry the dry grains", and much to my amazement, it works !
** Phil.

You should know that women are always right Phil ;D.  Seriously though, can you see a restaurant bothering to go through the pain of washing the rice before cooking??  I think not, but somebody out there may know different?  I don't bother with the washing / soaking process myself.  I tried it but didn't find that there was much of  a difference from my normal result to warrant the time and effort.  At the end of the day, it's what works for the individual.  I fry the spices for a minute to release the flavours and then simply stir the rice in to coat the grains before adding the water.  I find that it works for me and i end up with nicely separated grains when cooked.  In the very early days I too used the microwave to cook rice with very good results using a pilau recipe from a microwave cook book.  I think it was the first true pilau  i produced. Up till that point, i was just cooking plain but perfectly cooked boiled rice.  Fortunately, unlike you, i didn't go through a prolonged period of pain .  The rest is now history and this forum enables others to benefit from all our positive as well as negative experiences.  The end result being the satisfaction of cooking and serving BIR quality food.  As for the finger nail measurement, i don't believe a 1/12 of an inch will make that much difference either way, do you ;D

[Peripatetic Phil]

I've always maintained [that]

thorough rinsing and soaking is really important/essential

but Undercover Curry say "don't bother rinsing at all, just fry the dry grains", and much to my amazement, it works !

As I will be teaching a friend how to cook BIR cuisine on Friday (her husband won't allow curries in the house, but he is about to go away for two weeks !), I thought I should rehearse my pilau rice preparation as I normally don't bother, using frozen paratha instead.  So, following Dave Loyden's advice, I left the rice totally unwashed, gently bhooned assorted crushed spices (cinnamon, clove, green cardamom, black cardamom, Indian bay, fennel, cumin, black cumin), added a tiny bit of g/g paste, then added the completely dry and unwashed Basmati rice.  Turned off the heat, left the rice gently bhooning, turning it occasionally, then decanted the entire contents into a Pyrex casserole, covered it with 1/4" of boiling water, and into the microwave oven for 12 minutes at full power.  At 12 minutes, took it out to check, found it a little dry, added a little more boiling water, stirred gently, then back in for a further 20 minutes at 20%.  Took it out again, checked consistency again, found to be perfect, added a few drops of three different colours (each colour in only one place), then into an 80C oven for about 20 minutes.  Removed from oven, gently lifted the rice to distribute the coloured grains, then served it with left-over lamb dhansak, onion salad and hot lime pickle.  Absolutely superb, and the aroma of the rice was spot on.  If I were to be self-critical, I would say that the crushed spices should be made into a Potli ka Masala (Indian bouquet garni), because although I don't personally find their presence in a pulao to be off-putting, I know that others do, and it would also improve the appearance of the finished dish.

** Phil.

[sp]

The best recipe I've found so far for pilau rice... from Delia Smith !

http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/type-of-dish/party-food/accompaniment/spiced-pilau-rice.html

[colin grigson]

I always ( since jioning this forum anyway ) use CA's pilau recipe and I've found it freezes well and tastes great .. also for me as a beginner I find his/her recipes easy to follow with the illustrations that accompany the recipes being invaluable.

Thanks CA !   

[natterjak]

I just realised I started this thread so just in the interests of reporting back I've been getting great results with CurryHell's pilau recipe:

http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=6070.0

I scale it up to cook around 10 portions at a time in a big casserole/stockpot and freeze into takeaway containers, which I find a very time efficient way of generating a couple of week's supply of rice.  Defrosting and reheating in the microwave is normally about 3 mins on full (800W) then a couple of mins rest then another minute or two on full.