I find, I made your curry and took a picture here: https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=6229.msg62071;topicseen#msg62071

I love it! Thanks.

Made this twice now. Still tweaking it but I love the fresh edge from the whole spices infused into the oil at the start. Just added chick peas and whatever else I felt like. Becoming one of my favourite methods.

Quote from: chewytikka on November 01, 2011, 02:08 PM

Glad we've moved away from the old hat Takeaway Pilau,
which BTW is always washed, two thirds boiled, drained and finished in the warm oven.

cheers Chewy

Alright mate. Yes, totally agree. People can get transfixed on BIR and miss a whole world of great food that's out there.

Yes guys. 1:1 rice to water only works when the rice it soaked for 25-30 mins. If using a long grain (American, Jasmine) then you don't have to soak, but it's still 1:1.

It's also important the lid fits tight to that steam doesn't escape which it reinforced with the use of tinfoil. Also a lot of pans have the steam holes in them these days, so the tinfoil combats that too.

All I can say is try it!

Quote from: PaulP on November 01, 2011, 12:46 PM
I live in north Liverpool and there are no decent spice or Asian shops in that area. For that reason I usually buy the more exotic spices on-line and I use Mr Lung's Chinese supermarket for common spices like cumin and coriander.

Paul

I'm thinking Matta's on Bold Street might have them. I usually go the Chung Wah, the other guy likes to sell stuff reallly close to it's sell by date and he always puts your change on the counter like he's got a bit of an attitude! 

Looking on the net is says the 'black' ones are sweeter. I think they might compliment the rice in a way, you would have to try and post what you think in comparison to 'jeera'. There's a specialist ethnic food shop in Liverpool that might sell them... I'll check that out and try them sometime if I ever come across them.

I have absolutely no point of reference with them though so I can only speculate. 

Look guys, in all my years of making curries, I've never in my memory come across white or black labelled cumin; it's always just been called cumin. Even when I got to the Asian supermarkets in liverpool, I've never seen white cumin and black cumin labels, just cumin or jeera. It's always a dark brown colour hence, black, no? And this is the cumin that you see in the picture too... So, I'll leave it up to you which you want to use, try it 3 times, one white , one black and one 50/50!

Personally, I'll be sticking to standard jeera as this is all I can find in the shops, myself!

Quote from: Unclefrank on November 01, 2011, 11:10 AM
Hi madeinbeats i use dried onion flakes in the water when  boiling the rice, i fry the cumin seeds in a teaspoon of oil (for 2 people) until you can smell the aroma then add uncooked rice stir to cover the rice with the oil add water then 1-2 tbsp dried onion flakes, put lid on and wait until rice is cooked. Not as much ingredients as yours but still tasty.
Will have to give this one a go.

Yeah, give it ago mate you might like the fresher flavours and fragrance from the ingredients. I believe it's something that you would be happy with if you got it from a takeaway, a higher quality restaurant or from an authentic Asian home cooking experience. It's simple and rustic, but the flavours go so well that it transcends space and time and is the solution to world peace.    Well, maybe not :

Always black cumin for me, I think it's considered superior isn't it? Is white cumin used in ethnic cooking other than Indian/Middle Eastern? I can't say I've ever seen it in any shops in Liverpool and have never experimented with it. I use black is all I know.

This is a rice which showcases the flavour combination of cumin and onion. The nutty flavour of the roasted cumin and the sweetness of the lightly browned onions together with the fragrant basmati rice is a match made in heaven and must be tried. The flavour is richer and more savoury than pilau.

It's nice hot or cold. Although I've not tried it yet, it would be a perfect match with wild basmati and brown basmati rice by further playing on the sweet and nutty notes. Great as a savoury rice dish for say a BBQ or tandoor meats . As far as curries go, it can go with anything, but you can try and combine it with lighter or sweeter curries or less heavy and spicy or tomato based curries, but the choice is yours.


Method

Wash the rice in a bowl, twice... Don't just run it under the tap. Be gentle with it so you don't crack the grains or when it cooks it will be mushy. If you have a gentle touch you can lightly 'scrub' the rice between your hands to help get the starch off. I use a metal bowl which is the best I think. Drain.

Soak the rice for 25-30 minutes.

10 minutes or so before the rice has finished soaking, heat the oil up in preferably a good heavy bottomed pan which must have a lid. Add the spices and the onion. Fry on a low to medium heat until the onions have nice light brown colour to them.

Tip in the pre-soaked rice and using a wooden or silicon spatula (metal or wooden spoons etc will break the rice grains resulting in mushy rice) stir and coat the rice with the onions and cumin. Work from the side of the pan and lift the rice off the bottom of the pan. Again, it's imperative to treat the rice with as much respect as possible and not crack or break the grains.

Add the boiling water and salt, turn the heat up to get it to boiling point. Give one last stir to mix in salt and lift the sticking grains from the bottom.

As soon as it's boiling put tinfoil over the pan and press it in a little so there is room for the steam to expand. Put the lid on and turn the gas to the lowest setting. Make sure the lid is tight, it is important that little to no steam escapes

Start the timer for 12 minutes exactly.

If you have electric hobs, try using CurryHell's oven rice cooking method instead.

After 12 minutes turn the heat off.

You can leave the rice sitting there and it will stay warm for quite a while. Take the lid and foil off being careful not to get burnt by the steam. Use a fork to separate the grains and hunt out the whole spices. Don't use anything that will mash the rice up like a plastic/wooden spoon. I recommend a metal spoon for serving as there is no point in mashing the cooked rice up at this point either.