I am looking for the recipe to make a "traditional Indian" rice side dish.
It is plain, not too spicy, and I know it involves bay leaves, onions, and
nutmeg, but I am not sure what else. What I am after is the kind of rice
that they serve at Indian restaraunts. I have been messing around in my
kitchen, but can't get it right. Does anybody know what I mean?
sue
--
Sue Slechta
Sle...@bounce.biology.utah.edu
Remove the 'bounce' before sending mail
s
Sle...@bounce.biology.utah.edu (Sue Slechta) wrote:
>Hi all!
>I am looking for the recipe to make a "traditional Indian" rice side dish.
>It is plain, not too spicy, and I know it involves bay leaves, onions, and
>nutmeg, but I am not sure what else. What I am after is the kind of rice
>that they serve at Indian restaraunts. I have been messing around in my
>kitchen, but can't get it right. Does anybody know what I mean?
>sue
Do you mean just the basmati rice or some dish made using it? The
supermarkets in the DC area sell both basmati rice and "Texmati" rice,
the cheaper (and nearly as good) domestic equivalent. Maybe you can't
find it in Utah, though.
Leo
My recipe isn't exactly what you want, but maybe the technique will
help. Take 3 cups of basmati rice and rinse well. Place in a pot or rice
cooker with 1 1/4 C water per cup of rinsed rice.
In a pan on the stove caramelize half a med-small onion in ghee. About
half way into this add 1-2 teas of whole cumin. Plop this mixture into
the rice and water.
Add 1/2 C frozen or fresh peas and 1/2 C diced carrot, 1 tea or less of
turmeric. Simmer until done. Fluff with fork.
Now then, do the same thing without the carrot and peas or cumin.
Instead boil the rice with a bay leaf and 1/2 teas ground cardamom. I
bet it's that instead of nutmeg. turmeric is optional. To make it look
purdie, boil 1/2 cup of the rice seperately *with* turmeric, and then
fold in when all the rice is done....makes speckled rice.
GL
tj
>Do you mean just the basmati rice or some dish made using it? The
>supermarkets in the DC area sell both basmati rice and "Texmati" rice,
>the cheaper (and nearly as good) domestic equivalent.
I've only bought "Texmati" once. Still have some left because it
wasn't very good. (American Basmati Texmati light brown rice). It had
virtually none of the wonderful aroma you get with good basmati rice.
In fact I rate it quite a bit below Uncle Ben's. It sounds like the
Texmati in your area is much better, but that's food for ya. Just when
you think you have it down, it bites you right back. :)
BASMATI-RICE-1 _ Basmati
rice with carrots
This is a delicate, fragrant rice
dish_one of our favorites. I got the
recipe from an Indian cooking
class. It's a bit of work, but well
worth it.
INGREDIENTS (Serves 4)
1 cup Basmati rice (from
Indian grocery or
gourmet shop)
1 small onion
3 medium carrots
1 bay leaf
1 cinnamon stick,
crumbled
2 cloves
4 black peppercorns
¬ tsp cumin seeds
1 Tbsp light vegetable oil
2 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp kosher salt (or to taste)
PROCEDURE
(1) Wash the rice in cool
water, squeezing gently
with your fingers, until the
water runs clear. Put the
rice in 2 cups of cool
water to soak for 20
minutes.
(2) Strain soak water into
saucepan and heat.
Leave rice to dry in
strainer. Preheat oven to
350§ F.
(3) While rice is drying, chop
onion finely and set
aside. Dice carrots and
set aside. Measure
spices.
(4) When rice is dry, heat oil
over medium high flame
in heavy, oven-proof
skillet or casserole dish.
Add spices.
(5) When spices become
fragrant, add butter and
onions. Cook until
onions are tender and
light golden brown. Add
carrots and cook for 3-5
minutes.
(6) Add rice and cook,
stirring very gently for 5
minutes.
(7) Add salt and heated soak
water, bring to boil.
Reduce heat and simmer
until water on top of rice
has boiled off.
(8) Cover tightly and cook
for 20 minutes at 350§ F.
(9) Remove from oven, let
rest for 10 minutes, then
serve.
NOTES
It is important to handle the rice
gently so that the grains are not
broken. It's also important to use
whole spices; ground spices would
overpower the rice. This dish can
be re-heated in the oven.
RATING
Difficulty: easy. Time: 30 minutes
preparation, 30 minutes cooking and
cooling. Precision: measure the
ingredients.
CONTRIBUTOR
Nancy Mintz
AT&T-Information Systems, UNIX
System Development Lab, Summit,
NJ
ihnp4!attunix!nlm
Path: decwrl!recipes
From: nlm@attunix (Nancy Mintz)
Newsgroups: mod.recipes
This fine rice recipe comes from the UK mag BBC Vegetarian Good
Food. It goes good with indian side-dishes like baked tempeh.
SPICED BASMATI RICE
-------------------
serves 4 as a side dish
2 tbsp vegetabile oil
1/2 tbsp cumin seeds
1 large onion sliced
225g/8oz basmati rice, washed, soaked and drained
1 tbsp mild curry paste
1 cinnamon stick
50g/2oz sultanas
8 cardammom pods, split
1/2 tsp ground tumeric
50g/2oz flaked almonds
Heat the oil and fry the cumin seeds and onion for 10 minutes until
softened and golden. Add the rice and curry paste. Add 1 pint of
water, the cinnamon stick, sultanas, cardamom pods and turmeric,
cover and cook gently for 10 minutes. Toast the almonds until
golden brown. Stir into the spiced rice and serve.
* Exported from MasterCook *
Royal Basmati
Recipe By : Lundberg Family Recipe (www.lundberg.com) 1996
Serving Size : 4 Preparation Time :1:20
Categories :
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
2 cups Brown basmati
4 cups water or broth
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds (or 1/2 teaspoon
powdered cumin)
1 large onion peeled and chopped
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup frozen green peas
In a heavy skillet or Dutch oven with a lid heat oil and cumin seeds. Stir
for a few seconds add
onions and cook until translucent. Add rice and continue cooking for 3-4
min. Add liquid and
bring to boil. Cover reduce heat to low and cook 45-50 min. Stir in peas
the last few minutes of
cooking. Makes 4 servings.
(*Substitution* White basmati can be substituted for brown adjust water
to 3 cup water for 2
cup white basmati)
swe...@ix.netcom.com (Sharon Raghavachary)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Sue Slechta <Sle...@bounce.biology.utah.edu> wrote in article
<Slechta-ya0231800...@news.cc.utah.edu>...
I thought basmati came from the Himalayas and a few areas of Northern Indian?
Where are you getting your information. Ok, I just checked Madhur Jaffrey's A
Taste of India. She says it is "a fine aromatic, long grain rice grown in the
foothills of the Himalaya mountains." My instints tell me to believe her.
Michael Sierchio <Michael....@Sun.Com.oops.spam.this.com> wrote in
article <341992...@Sun.Com.oops.spam.this.com>...
I make a spicy rice by first sauteeing the onions in clarified butter (ghee) until they are
red/brown in color. Salt helps quicken the process. Then I add Garam masala to this (found in
Indian stores but I make my own). THen I add 1 hot green chilli finely chopped, minced garlic
and just stir it into the hot onion mixture so that the flavors blend. I then add this to the
rice cooker where the raw rice has been sitting in water. I stir it in and turn the rice cooker
on. And you've made spicy basmati rice.
YOu can do a netsearch for Indian recipes Index. Here you can find over a hundred recipes.
Have fun.
>Sorry, I should have made this clearer. I have some some basmati rice, and
>I want to cook something with it that is similar to what you get in an
>Indian restaruant. I do have the rice, but I can't get it to taste the way
>I remember, it is far too bland, and I don't know what seasonings to use,
>so if anyone could help me, that would be great. thanks again!
>
>--
>Sue Slechta
>Sle...@bounce.biology.utah.edu
>Remove the 'bounce' before sending mail
I notice a lot of people have posted various recipes (that all look really
yummy!), so this post may be a little redundant at this point, but here's my
$.02:
In your rice pot melt 2 T. of butter over medium heat. Add 4 or 5 whole
cloves, one cinnamon stick and a half teaspoon of cumin seeds. Stir until
fragrant. Add 1 cup of basmati rice. Stir until the rice becomes well
coated with butter and the spices are well distributed. Add 2 cups of hot
water and bring everything to a boil. Cover and reduce to a simmer. Simmer
for about 25 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand five minutes. Remove
cinammon stick. Fluff and mix with a half cup of cooked peas.
Scoop
A fair number of people claim that the best comes from Pakistan. There
is a certain nationalist bigotry on the subject, between Pakistan and
India, of course.
In India the stuff comes from around Dehra Doon, not terribly far from
Delhi. I expect to be there for a couple of days in a month or two.
There are other fragrant rice varieties, too, of course. In eastern
India we have a very different variety called Gobindo Bhog, much
loved and distinctly cheaper than basmati.
"Basmati", by the way, means "fragrant" in the Sanskrit-derived
languages.
- Shankar
I recently purchased a bag of basmati rice. The cooking instruction say
to rinse well
before cooking. I have always believed that one should _not_ rinse rice.
What is your
opinion?
--
x-----> <---------X Kirby Smithe
<:>=========~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
x-----> < Tucson, Arizona
\
X----->
A side note: Sometimes people believe they are purchasing good quality basmati rice. I have
purchased both good and bad quality rice. The bad rice smells like dirt and grass and the
flavor actually is gross. The good quality is fresh and clean and has a sweet smell.
This is one brand I would buy again if I ever see it offered. (The
store discontinued it.)
Beth Jarvis Hart
On 16 Sep 1997 05:06:48 GMT,
Nutty and chewy? I would call white Basmati fragrant and tender. If
you're talking about brown Basmati...it may be the same breed, but it
isn't aged like the white stuff. I was told this was because it would
spoil with the bran etc on it.
tj
>I've recently discovered Safeway's Basmati Rice - IT"S WONDERFUL. Such a
>nutty flavor and chewy texture - it's great!
Safeway grows basmati rice? How quaint :-)
I buy basmati from Lion Brand in a jute bag, 10 elbees (4.54 kgs) for
something like 7$CAN. I bought that at Loblaws, but I suspect I can
get 20 elbee bags (9.08 kg) for about 10$ at various "eyeth-nyuk"
stores.
Loblaws, and I suspect Safeway also, sells its own packaged basmati
for 2,95$ for 500 ml (2 cups), hardly enough for two small meals.
My suggestion is to find a source of basmati that's cheaper,
especially if you're going to eat it often.
Michel
You can find some interesting recipes on the Lundberg Web site
(www.lundberg.com) -- they grow rice, and apparently about a dozen
different varieties, some of which I never heard of. Then again,
it's said that there are 7,000 varieties of rice worldwide...
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to remove the 'nospam' to reply by email.
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