Topic: Curryhell's Pilau rice - yet another recipe

[madmatt]

CT, thanks for the info. Will have a look for mr naga next time I'm in the Asian store(not seen it in tesco's)

CH,
I shouldn't panic about the rice, the brand you use is still widely available.

Has a group test been done on pilau? If not, let's get one organised!

Matt

[curryhell]

CT, thanks for the info. Will have a look for mr naga next time I'm in the Asian store(not seen it in tesco's)

CH,
I shouldn't panic about the rice, the brand you use is still widely available.

Has a group test been done on pilau? If not, let's get one organised!

Matt

Now that is not a bad idea Matt.  Cost wise cheap for everybody to do and timewise, again does not require a lot of peoples time to do it.   How about you post the idea in the group test section and see what the response it.  It's been a bit quiet in there of late ;D.  It certainly would be useful to those individuals who have just started to cook BIR.  And some of the regular contributors may experience a pleasant surpise too  .  My recipe developed only through trial and error.  And there were a few errors and saucepans of what i can only describe as "gloop" 

[madmatt]

Trebled all quantities to make a batch for freezing.
Great taste, but had to add more water after the initial 15 mins, and gave it another 7 mins.

Matt

[curryhell]

Trebled all quantities to make a batch for freezing.
Great taste, but had to add more water after the initial 15 mins, and gave it another 7 mins.

Matt

That's looking good Matt.  Kind of scratching my head over the need to add extra water though, which would obviously require additional cooking time .  I've made this for over 20 years and never had a problem.  Did you give it a good stir after adding the initial water before checking the level and topping up to 1/3 inch above the level of the rice???  Not that i put that in my recipe - oops.  I must confess to only making a large casserole dish of the rice in the oven but the principles are the same as when i've done rice for 20+ people using a pot on a stove.  Now you've got me intrigued.  If i had a  huge casserole dish like yours, i'd try it just to satisfy myself.  Don't forget, if you're gonna freeze it, best reheated only as pilau.  Once it's been frozen it's very brittle and doesn't lend itself to being mucked about with as the grains WILL break up during any sort of frying.  Haven't cooked rice for a while now, have been brushing up on my chapatti skills 

[natterjak]

This is my recipe for pilau rice.  <snip>

Obviously, any comments, suggestions or feedback on the recipe are always appreciated. 

Hi CH.  I'm cooking this recipe as we speak - in fact the dish has just come out of the oven following the last 5 min reheating.  You asked for suggestions on improving the recipe and I have a couple of ideas to improve clarity of the directions, if you don't mind?

First, I found it hard to be sure how much water to add.  You describe adding enough water to cover the rice by 1/3" but I find that hard to judge.  Plus, using this approach surely the volume of water will be greater in a large dish than a small one (while the amount of rice is constant at 1 cup).  In fact I suspect I've added too much water as my quick tasting when I removed the dish after 15 mins reveals the rice is wet and fluffy and seems over cooked.  Maybe that's right though and it will dry out further?  My suggestion would be to stipulate the volume of water to be added, which hopefully reduces the margin for error.

My 2nd thought is it would be helpful to mention how the rice should look when removed at the end of the 15 mins as this would help us to know if we need to add extra water, or cook for longer to dry it out more, etc. 

Well those are just a couple of ideas which might help make this recipe even more foolproof.  I'll let you know how my rice turns out.

[natterjak]

Hi CH, further to the above I really should wait until I've cooked a dish before I start commenting!  The pilau I cooked this afternoon did dry out in the end and when mixed up with a fork the colours didn't bleed into each other as I feared they might.  It was, in fact, a stunning success - well done on a great recipe!

I would still prefer more certainty over the volume of water to add, so will experiment with measuring the water I add so I can get it nailed with 100% confidence each time.  I think I might also reduce the amount of fennel seed and oil next time but that's a matter of personal preference.

Slightly dark photo below

[madmatt]

Its funny, Lots of interest in the forum for pilau rice, but no one seems interested in doing a group test on it

[natterjak]

Hi Matt

I'd be up for doing a group test - have I missed seeing a thread about that?

[curryhell]

Thanks for trying the recipe and reporting back.  I'm glad the recipe didn't let you down in the end and came out as it should do.  That looks a fine plate of rice mate.  By all means adjust the spicing to your liking as we all do and there does appear to be a sheen of oil on the rice which does suggest just a fraction too much.  As for the volume of water, because i cook the rice this way so often maybe my instructions are not as good as they could be and i assumed that people would find it easy to judge 1/3 inch above the rice level - wrong (specially if the casserole dish isn't see through ) .  I will try harder next time and provide pics during the cooking stages.  I've only ever once cooked rice using volume measurements and that was the first and last time due to the pot of gloop that i produced.  Never done it since just used my fingernail method :. My excuse for lack of volume measurements is that its a chef thing ;D.  Next time i cook it i will measure the weight of the rice and volume of water and report back in an attempt to make it easier for people and for those who like to use precise measurements when cooking to guarantee consistancy.

[madmatt]

Hi NJ, I have started a thread in the group test section, but no interest! Would be happy to mix it up with a main dish group test also if needed!
Matt