Jeweled Rice & Taken by Trees
Jeweled Rice is known as “the king of Persian dishes.” I haven’t had enough Persian food to agree or disagree but it’s certainly incredible. This is a recipe I’ve taken from Michael Bateman’s book The World of Spice with just a few changes. It’s an incredible book and I really recommend getting it. It takes about 45 minutes to make this but its well worth it. It’s definitely great to make on a weekend or if you are having a dinner party.
Music: Taken by Trees “East of Eden” I’ve never heard The Concretes, although I guess this is a side project of the band. Recorded in Pakistan, this album blends some wonderful western indie-pop goodness with the beautiful sounds of Pakistani music. I highly recommend it.
Ingredients: Serves 4
1 2/4 cups basmati rice
2 tsp of turmeric
1 ½ tbs of brown or sugar in the raw
3 tablespoons currants
3 tablespoons gold raisins
1/2 stick of butter
4 tbs of sunflower oil
1 small red onion, finely sliced
1 tsp of salt
1 lb carrots, finely chopped
½ red pepper, diced
3 cups of broth (chicken, beef or vegetable)
3 tbs of almonds, finely sliced
3 tbs of pistachio nuts, finely sliced
For the Spice Mixture:
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
½ tsp of cardamom
1 tsp of ground black pepper
Pinch of nutmeg
Directions:
Prepare and chop all ingredients ahead of time. Heat up a ¼ stick of butter and sunflower oil in a large pot on medium. Add onions and cook until they begin to brown.
Meanwhile, in a medium-sized pot, bring the broth and rice to a boil, and immediately begin simmering.
Slowly add in the spice mixture and salt to the onions turning to medium-low as to avoid burning. Cook for a few minutes and stir in sugar.
Once sugar has dissolved, add raisins, currants, carrots, and red pepper into the spice/onion mixture and stir well. Pour in the broth/rice mix (which should have been on for about 10 minutes) into the big pot (that has onions, raisins, spice, etc). Mix well, cover, and simmer until rice has completely cooked (should be about 10-15 more minutes).
Meanwhile, melt remaining butter into a pan and brown pistachios and almonds. Do not burn.
Once rice has cooked, stir in nuts and turmeric powder. Enjoy!
