Easy pilau rice
Make spicy pilau rice to serve with your favourite dishes – the secret to fluffy pilau is to leave it to steam in its own heat without removing the lid
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Prep:10 mins
Cook:30 mins
plus optional soaking - Serves 6
- Easy
Nutrition per serving
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kcal 226
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fat 5g
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saturates 3g
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carbs 39g
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sugars 0g
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fibre 2g
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protein 5g
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salt 0.11g
Ingredients
- 300g basmati rice
- 30g butter or 2 tbsp sunflower oil
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 6 cardamom pods, bashed
- 4 cloves
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ tsp ground coriander
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- 500ml vegetable stock or water
Method
If you have time, tip the rice into a large bowl and soak in cold water for 30 mins. Rinse in cold running water, then drain well, rinse and drain again. Repeat until the water is only slightly cloudy, then leave the rice in a sieve set over the sink to drain completely.
Heat the butter or oil in a lidded pan over a medium heat and gently fry the onion with a large pinch of salt, stirring occasionally for 10 mins until soft and golden. Stir in the whole spices and the bay and cook for 2 mins more. Add the ground coriander and turmeric, and cook for 1 min more. Gently stir in the drained rice to coat it in the onion mixture, then pour over the stock or water and stir well.
Cover the pan with the lid and turn up the heat. Once hot, remove the lid, stir the rice, cover again and reduce the heat to low. Cook for 2 mins, then turn the heat off completely and leave to stand for 10 mins without removing the lid. Uncover, stir well, then cover again and leave to stand for a final 5 mins. Fluff up with a fork before serving.
