An Invitation to Indian Cooking - Madhur Jaffrey [82]
Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat. Put in the carrot strips and the raisins, and fry, stirring, for 10 to 12 minutes, until the carrots wilt and turn brownish at the edges.
Wash the rice in a colander and leave to drain.
Preheat oven to 300°.
Put the sugar in a 2–3-quart flameproof and ovenproof dish and heat over medium flame. The sugar will melt and then begin to turn brown. As soon as it becomes a golden brown, pour in the chicken broth, keeping face averted. Add the rice, salt, nutmeg, mace, cinnamon, and cardamom, and bring to a boil. Keep boiling gently on medium flame for 8 to 10 minutes, until the liquid is absorbed. Stir frequently toward the latter half of cooking time to prevent sticking. Once the liquid is absorbed, turn off the heat. Cover the dish with a piece of aluminum foil 2 inches wider than the rim of the dish. Place the cover on the foil, and crinkle and arrange ends of aluminum foil so that no steam can escape. If you have a very heavy and tight-fitting lid, you can do without the foil.
Place rice dish in the oven and bake for 45 to 60 minutes. Check after 45 minutes to see if rice is done. If not, leave longer.
To serve: Spoon out onto warm platter and serve with Lamb Korma or Sindhi Gosht. Any yogurt dish would go well with it.
If you are cooking a Western meal, try eating this rice with roast duck, roast turkey, roast chicken, or baked ham.
Sweet rice with carrots and raisins cooked in aromatic broth
SERVES 4–6
Follow preceding recipe. Instead of chicken broth, use aromatic broth or yakhni. This yakhni gives the rice the added flavors of whole cumin and whole fennel seeds. It can be made weeks in advance and stored in the freezer.
Rice with whole spices
SERVES 6
Rice is cooked with whole cinnamon sticks, bay leaves, cloves, black peppers, and cardamom pods. It is a very light and fragrant dish—and easy to make.
1 medium-sized onion
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
6 whole cloves
10 black peppercorns
5 cardamom pods
2 cinnamon sticks, about 3 inches long
3 bay leaves
2 cups long-grain rice
1 teaspoon salt
Peel onion and slice into fine rounds. Halve the rounds.
Heat the oil in a 3-quart heavy-bottomed pot (with tight-fitting lid—to be used later) over medium heat, put in the onions, and fry, stirring, until they are brown and crisp (but not burned)—about 8 to 10 minutes. With a slotted spoon, remove the onions and leave them on a paper towel to drain.
In the same fat, fry the cloves, peppercorns, cardamom pods, cinnamon sticks, and bay leaves for 10 to 20 seconds or until spices begin to expand and change color. Add the rice, and fry, stirring, another minute or two. Now put in 3 cups water and the salt. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to very low. Cook 25 to 35 minutes, until done. Halfway through the cooking, stir once gently with a fork.
To serve: Spoon out the rice onto a warm platter, breaking any lumps with the back of a slotted spoon. The whole spices serve as a garnish—just warn your family or guests not to bite into them. Sprinkle fried onions over rice.
Serve with baked fish and almost any meat or chicken dish.
Rice with peas
SERVES 4–6
Rice can be cooked with either fresh or frozen peas. In India, of course, it is always cooked with the fresh, hard, shelled variety, but I find that frozen peas work just as well for this dish.
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
½ teaspoon whole black mustard seeds
2 cups long-grain rice
3 cups chicken broth (fresh or canned)
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup shelled peas, fresh or frozen
Over medium flame, heat the oil in a 3-quart heavy-bottomed pot (with tight-fitting lid—to be used later). When hot, add the mustard seeds and wait until they begin to darken (10 to 20 seconds). Put in the rice, and the peas if you are using fresh ones. Stir for a minute. Add broth and salt. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce flame to very, very low. Leave to cook for 25 to 30 minutes.
If you are using frozen peas, defrost them by placing a cupful in colander and running under hot