A recent experience while visiting my wife’s clan in Atlanta inspired me to seek out an authentic Indian rice recipe. Margaret, Heather’s grandmother, had an Indian night where she and a longtime family friend cooked some traditional dishes. Amita is from northwest India and a pretty good cook. Watching Amita and Margaret in the kitchen was so entertaining. It was like being on the set of a cooking show with Margaret as the host and Amita the ‘guest’ chef. Rob and I sat at the kitchen counter drinking a few Kingfisher beers while Amita made a spicy chicken with basmati rice dish that really won me over. Having forgotten to ask for the recipe, I went to the library in search of an easy to follow Indian cookbook and found Madhur Jaffrey Indian Cooking
. It’s a pleasant book with easy to follow directions. I decided to make this Spiced Basmati Rice recipe and serve it with my grilled chicken recipe.
Spiced Basmati Rice
Ingredients
- 15 floz Basmati Rice
- 2 pints water
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 ounces onion, peeled and finely chopped
- ½ fresh, hot green chili, finely chopped
- ½ teaspoon peeled, very finely chopped garlic
- ½ teaspoon Garam Masala
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 pint chicken stock
Recipe adapted from Madhur Jaffrey Indian Cooking
Method
1 Make sure you inspect the rice thoroughly before cooking. This is something I do more often after seeing how rice is dried during a trip to the Philippines. Wash the rice several times until the water runs almost clear. Soak in 2 pints of water for 30 minutes.
2 Add the oil to a heavy pan on medium heat. Drop in the onion once the pan is hot. Let the onions caramelize just a bit and add the green chili, rice, garlic, garam masala and salt. The mixture should be stirred 3-4 minutes to get the rice well covered in oil. This is a good time to enjoy a cold Kingisher. Add the chicken stock; bring to a boil, and cover. Cook 25 minutes on low heat.
Recipe adapted from Madhur Jaffrey Indian Cooking
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