Topic: Curryhell's Pilau rice - yet another recipe

[Peripatetic Phil]

Any help as to how I may overcome this issue.

Well, Curryhell's recipe and methodology are virtually the same as mine, the only difference being that I do wash, soak and dry the rice first, and then I cook it entirely in a microwave oven in a Pyrex^(R) casserole with lid.  So, if you have a microwave oven  and suitable casserole, you might like to try my version and see if you are any more successful; the recipe is here, and the only change I have made subsequently is to pre-heat the ghee for five minutes at 100% before adding the whole spices.

** Phil.

[emann]

Hi there, thanks for your input but unfortunately i do not have a microwave oven.

So maybe someone from the others can give me some other input as to what I am doing wrong.

Thanks d same
emann

[Secret Santa]

Are you using a good quality basmati rice?

[976bar]

Hi,

I have tried this recipe for three times now in a gas oven and positioned in the middle.

The aroma of the rice is great and the taste resembles very well to my local TA.

The only thing, and a major one dreadfully, is that I cannot get the timing and water amount right in all three trials.  First of all it is taking me way more than 12-15 min as advised in the recipe - at 15min, when i taste some rice, it is still too hard.  I add some water to ensure it does not burn and stick to the pan and try it out every 3-5 min and maybe top it up with a tiny amount of water....unfortunatley, by the time i take it out, mix the food colour and leave for the last few minutes....voila...the rice seems to come out over cooked and instead of having separate grains and being fluffy, i sort of finish with rice in lumps.  Mind you, the taste and the hardness are just great but when i cook rice by boiling, the texture comes out much different.

Any help as to how I may overcome this issue.

Regards,
emann

Hi Emann, Ok perfect rice...

Wash the rice first to remove most of the starch and let it drain so most of the water disappears. Boil a kettle of water, put the rice in a large saucepan, cover with water to about half an inch above the rice line. Add some salt, put the lid on and boil the rice for about 3 minutes, turn the heat down to the lowest setting on the smallest ring on your hob, and steam the rice for a further 12 minutes. Turn the heat off, and let the rice sit for about 4-5 mins.

Do not be tempted to lift the lid during any of the above process. When the time is up, you will have nice soft fluffy rice with individual grains

If you then want to colour your rice, mix some food colouring in a large mug with a little water, take a few spoons of the rice out and put in the mug, mix it around till the rice is coloured then mix it back in with the large batch.

[Peripatetic Phil]

Bob, how would you modify your recipe to include Curryhell's additional ingredients ?  His is a recipe for pulao rice, whereas if I read yours correctly it seems to be a recipe for boiled rice with the possible addition of colouring.

** Phil.

[emann]

Hi 976bar,

thanks for the reply...i will surely try this method when back home from my overseas work in about 2 wks.

with regards to putting in the spices of the remainder of the recipe, at which point should i introduce them; would i get the same results if i start with frying the spices as per the start of the original recipe and then once this is done i proceed from your point from where the rice is ready from washing and drying and ready to go in the pan?

thanks
emann

[Peripatetic Phil]

Obviously I can't answer for Bob (976bar), Emann, but in my opinion just adding cooked spices to Bob's recipe will not yield "real" pulao rice; in my experience, the gentle frying of the washed, drained then dried rice is essential to achieving the desired grain shape and firmness.  I have found that if basmatti rice is boiled without the pre-fry stage, the grains lose their well-defined shape and it is not possible to achieve a real pulao texture.  I append an image of some rice I cooked this evening : washed, drained, dried, fried with whole spices for two minutes (in microwave), then add water, salt, dried garlic flakes and cook for exactly 12 minutes; after that, a couple of drops of green colouring (manky green : I need to get another brand), one drop of yellow, then into a conventional oven at 80^oC for about ten minutes to set the colour, and finally lift the rice gently to separate the grains, taking the opportunity to remove the larger spices at the same time.

** Phil.
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