Indian Rice Dish Ideas

[OllieMartin]

I'd like to cook a load of curries for all the family over Christmas. It's such a communal meal and so much fun to cook.
I've only ever done boring, plain rice with a curry before. And as there'll be quite a few of us it'd be nice to have a couple of rice dishes.

Anyone got any recipes for interesting indian-style rice accompaniments?

[phil the shed]

listen it may sound a bit naff but i bought a shwartz type pot from sainsbury's herbs and spices section mix for pilau rice its a mighty fine mix good aroma and colour.
phil

[HeyWayne]

Some sort of Biryani?

[Rhona]

I might do curries on Boxing Day.

I've got a fab Cinnamon Club recipe for Hyderbadi Lamb Biryani. It's a little meat, but mainly a potful of steamed, spiced, saffrony rice that you crack open at the table.

Do you fancy that? Also a brill dahl which makes a good accompaniment too. I think I've posted that somewhere already actually.

[Flummery]

I sometimes put a bit of oil in a pan and then gently fry a bit of star anise, an inch or two of cinnamon stick, a few crushed cardamom pods and a piece of dried chilli. When you can smell the spices coming through add your rice and then add almost twice the volume of water to rice. Season with some salt and some lemon juice, bring to the boil and cover. Turn down the heat and cook for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and it's ready after another 10 mins. This is really fragrant and makes a change from plain rice.


Have you ever made your own naan bread? Take 1lb white bread flour and add a little oil, some salt and a good teaspoon of onion seeds (so called - I think they are nigella actually). Sprinkle on a sachet of dried yeast and make up to an elastic dough with natural yoghurt. Let the dough prove for a while then knead it out into 8 or 10 small balls which you then roll out to pear shapes. Brush a little oil on and grill them (keep an eye on them, they go brown fast!) Turn them over and brush again with oil. These are SO MUCH nicer than shop ones.

[OllieMartin]

I might do curries on Boxing Day.

I've got a fab Cinnamon Club recipe for Hyderbadi Lamb Biryani. It's a little meat, but mainly a potful of steamed, spiced, saffrony rice that you crack open at the table.

Do you fancy that? Also a brill dahl which makes a good accompaniment too. I think I've posted that somewhere already actually.

Dahl sounds like a good idea, I know my mum loves it. I'll have a search for your recipe. Thanks

I sometimes put a bit of oil in a pan and then gently fry a bit of star anise, an inch or two of cinnamon stick, a few crushed cardamom pods and a piece of dried chilli. When you can smell the spices coming through add your rice and then add almost twice the volume of water to rice. Season with some salt and some lemon juice, bring to the boil and cover. Turn down the heat and cook for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and it's ready after another 10 mins. This is really fragrant and makes a change from plain rice.

Have you ever made your own naan bread? Take 1lb white bread flour and add a little oil, some salt and a good teaspoon of onion seeds (so called - I think they are nigella actually). Sprinkle on a sachet of dried yeast and make up to an elastic dough with natural yoghurt. Let the dough prove for a while then knead it out into 8 or 10 small balls which you then roll out to pear shapes. Brush a little oil on and grill them (keep an eye on them, they go brown fast!) Turn them over and brush again with oil. These are SO MUCH nicer than shop ones.

Oooooh, homemade naans do sound good. I may have to employ a sous-chef for the day!

[Rhona]

Thanks Flum, those Naans have just made the Boxing Day menu! I like Nigella seeds and sling a small handful in most curry-related things.

[HeyWayne]

I've read/seen in the past of people who place a paving slab in their oven (at 45 degrees to fit it in) for that authentic Tandor Naan.

I'd imagine it's a brand new slab, washed and dried rather than a spare one they had knocking about in the garden.

[ginger ninger]

I love making authentic Curry's, this is the site's I use if there any good to you, have fun.

Indian Dishes

Indian Vegetarian Food and Recipes. Dal Makhani, Dum Aloo, Nargisi Kofta, Paneer Korma, Navratan Korma, Palak Paneer, Kadhai Bhindi, Shahi Paneer, Mutter Paneer, Paneer Makhani, Paneer Masala, Vegetable Tikka Masala, Masala Baigan, Baigan Bharta, Cha

[ginger ninger]

Sorry just realised you said Rice dishes, try these Ollie.

Biryani

1 Kg boneless meat (chicken/lamb), cut in 1 inch strips
2 cups rice, washed and drained(preferably Basmati Rice)
5 cloves garlic
1 inch piece of ginger
5 dried red chillies
2 medium onions, sliced into rings
2 medium tomatoes, diced
5 mint leaves
pinch of saffron (optional)
3 large potatoes, peeled and diced
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
3 tbsp butter
3 pods cardamoms
3 cloves
2 inch stick of cinnamon
salt to taste

1. Make a paste of the garlic, ginger and chillies in a food processor. Saute the onions in the butter until golden brown, about 5-7 minutes. Remove the onions, and put them aside.

2. Put the ginger-garlic-chili paste into the same pan used above and saute for 3-4 minutes.

3. Add the meat and saute. Lamb should be sauted for about 7-8 minutes, while the chicken will take about 4-5 minutes. The meat should be about half cooked at the end of this step.

4. Add chopped tomatoes, cloves, cinnamon, cardamoms, turmeric, mint leaves and salt and saute for 2 minutes. Add a little water and cook until the meat is almost cooked.

5. Now add the rice and potatoes. Add the rest of the water and simmer covered, on a very low flame for 15-20 minutes, until the rice is cooked. Serve hot, garnished with the fried onions.


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Chick-Peas Pulao

Serves 6 to 8.

For the rice

1 1/2 teacups uncooked Basmati rice
2 cardamoms
2 cloves
1 cinnamon
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 teacups milk
1 1/2 teacups water
2 1/2 teaspoons salt

For the gravy

1 teacup chick peas (Kabuli chana)
1 pinch soda-bi-carb
1 teaspoon ginger paste
1 teaspoon garlic paste
1 teaspoon chilli powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teacup fresh curds
1 teacup chopped tomatoes
2 chopped potatoes
3 chopped green chillies
3 tablespoons ghee
salt to taste

For the baking

2 tablespoons chopped coriander
1 tablespoon chopped mint
1 chopped green chilli
2 tablespoons fried onions
1/4 teacup milk with a dash of saffron

For the rice

Soak the rice for 30 minutes. Drain. Mix the water and milk together. Add the caradamoms, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaf, salt and rice and cook until almost done.

For the gravy

Soak the chick peas overnight. Next day, boil with a little water and the soda bi-carb. Drain. Heat the ghee, add the ginger and garlic pastes and fry for a while. Add the chilli powder and the turmeric (in a little water) and fry for 1 minute. Add the curds, tomatoes, potatoes and green chillies and stir for a while. Add the chick peas and salt.

To the cooked rice, add the coriander, mint, green chillies and fried onions. Put one layer of rice in a big bowl and spread a layer of chick pea gravy on top. Make alternate layers of rice and gravy in this manner. Finally, sprinkle the saffron milk on top, cover and bake in a hot oven at 200 degree C (400 degree F) for 20 minutes. When baked, turn upside down in a serving dish and serve hot.


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Enjoy with friends and lots of cold beer.

[smallblueplanet]

There's some good 'indian' recipes here - you can also get the ingredients on the Natco site

There's a couple of dhals listed.

Curry Recipes from Natco Online

pilau rice recipe

We normally use a Madhur Jaffrey recipe, here's one

Madhur Jaffrey picks her favourite recipes: Madhur's daily dal - Telegraph

[zazen999]

If you make fried rice; cook the rice first then rinse it in cold water; and let it drain - the best fried rice has the rice added - dry and cold - once the fried stuff is cooked.

I do an onion and garlic and chili fried rice; you could add pretty much anything you want and then add the rice at the end; it doesn't take long to absorb the flavourings and heat up. Yum.

[HeyWayne]

LadyWayne made rice pudding in our slow cooker the other day and it was lush (if a little sweet).

Chuck in some cardamom pods and some chopped pistachios et voila! It's Indian.

I know my parents' neighbours used to make something like this whenever they had a family "get-together". It was actually the first taste I had of rice pudding as a kid.

I'm sure it was called something like Kir or Gir. Summat like that.

[HayleyB]

For currys to the rice and water I'll occasionally bung in some tumeric, cumin seeds, onion seeds (nigella), seeds from about six split cardomoms and a couple of small pieces of cinnamon stick. Boil rice as normal. The cardomom really makes the rice smell aromatic, it feels authentic too.

You could add mixed veg to the rice as a change. Or fry boiled rice with egg.

[HeyWayne]

Not Indian, but mildly related - Nasi Goreng. LadyWayne's not keen on the egg on top, but might be worth considering...