Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Pilau Rice and Chai
You might have guessed it, it's Friday and we haven't got any decent food left in the house. And because it's Friday, I'm far from imaginative and can't create something from nothing. So Lofty and I actually had to swallow the proverbial bitter pill and have the same thing for dinner as yesterday. And being as I deprived you of my recipes for Pilau rice and Chai yesterday, let me make up for that as well as the brief post today, by letting you in on these secrets now.Pilau Rice:I suppose if you're in a bind, you could use long grain rice in place of basmati, but I advise against it. It's not as fragrant, so something will be missing from the dish. What you can do, though, is replace the almonds with pistachios and the currants with dried apricots or even chopped dates. Also, I personally am not a fan of coriander, so I rarely use it in my own cooking. In my opinion the dish does not lose anything if you omit it, but I'm sure a lover of the herb would strongly disagree. I suppose this is, as so many things, a matter of taste.
4 tsp ghee or butter
½ onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
½ tsp turmeric
1 bay leaf
few cardamom pods
½ cup basmati rice
enough stock granules for 200 ml of liquid
200 ml boiling water (more if the rice appears dry)
¼ cup currants or raisins
¼ cup almonds, sliced or chopped
handful of fresh coriander, chopped (optional)
Heat the ghee/butter in a medium non-stick saucepan and sauté the onion for 2 to 3 minutes, to soften. Add the garlic and heat for a further minute. Now stir in the turmeric, bay leaf and cardamom pods. Continue cooking, stirring constantly, until the spices are fragrant.
Add the rice and fry in the butter until translucent, about 1 minute. Cover with boiling water. Reduce the heat and simmer gently for 10-12 minutes, or until the rice is tender, adding extra water if necessary.
Stir in the fresh coriander.
The same goes for the Chai. This recipe is relatively mild. You will find hundreds of Chai recipes out there. In fact, when, just out of interest, I did a Google search for "chai recipe", I got 10,800 hits! This recipe is taken from one of the many Indian cookbooks my dad has in his extensive collection and adapted to my taste. Many others call for black pepper, anise seeds or ginger to be added to the spice mix. In my opinion, this makes the Chai go too spicy, but by all means, if you like a bit of bite, add a small amount of any of the above. Other things I have seen during my Chai search were vanilla (which I consider a waste, but maybe I should try it before I bitch) and nutmeg (which I generally associate with savoury foods, so I'm shying away from it). I think Chai is one of these things that you can't get wrong as long as you like it. So I encourage you to do as I did; use this very nice recipe as a base and start experimenting until you get it right. Alternatively, get a box of Clipper Fair Traded Organic Chai and prepare that according to the packet instructions. It's not as good as homemade, but still very nice indeed.
Chai (enough for 4 cups):
1 stick of cinnamon (about 5 cm)
4 green cardamom pods
2 black cardamom pods
6 whole cloves
½ litre water
5 tsp unperfumed loose black tea
½ litre milk
sugar or honey to taste
Roast the spices in a dry saucepan over medium heat until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the water and bring to a boil. Cover, turn heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the tea, milk and sugar and bring to a simmer again. Allow to simmer for a minute or 2, then cover, and turn off the heat. After 3 to 5 minutes, strain into a teapot and serve immediately.
Christine at 10:24 pm
