How to cook Basmati Rice

I have a finicky Emirati husband.  Basmati rice has started many wars in my house.  

There were times my husband would refuse to eat the rice I cooked and would go to one of the public kitchens and buy a container of cooked rice to eat with the stews I cooked.

The rice was either overcooked in that it was mushy or  undercooked and still crunchy.  I used to just add water and cook it with the quick-boil method but the rice would stick together.

It has taken me years to learn how to properly cook basmati rice so that it turns out nice and fluffy.  The secret is in the size of the pot you use and how long you let the rice soak.  You need an extra-large pot to cook the rice in.  The rice needs lots of room to move around when it is boiling.

Here is my recipe:

2 cups of Basmati rice (I use India Gate because the rice has been aged and the kernals of the rice are long…plus it has a delicious taste!)

extra-large pot

salt

1 tablespoon cooking oil

a timer

Place the rice in a large bowl and fill it up with water. 

Carefully wash the rice so that you do not break the kernals.  Cup your hand slightly and slowly wash the rice.  I turn my hand in the bowl 20 times. 

Drain the water and repeat the above two more times. 

Drain the water and then pour water over the rice again with enough water to just cover the rice by about an inch.

Now you let the rice soak for at least 30 minutes but better if you let it soak for an hour.

Meanwhile, fill the extra-large pot half way with water.  A good guide is to use 3 liters of waters for every 1 cup of rice.

Add 1/4 cup of salt and 1 tablespoon of oil to the pot of water.

Bring the water to a full rolling boil.

Drain the rice in a strainer and add to the pot.  Stir once.

Cover the pot with a lid and when the water starts boiling again remove the lid.  This takes about a minute.

Have a large strainer waiting in the sink to drain the rice.

Let the rice boil for exactly 5 minutes.  Trust me when I say exactly 5 minutes because if it is less time or more time it will greatly affect the texture of the rice.

Drain the rice in the strainer and gently, very gently, shake the strainer to get out all of the excess water.

Return the rice to pot and keep warm until ready to serve.

When you are ready to serve the rice.  Gently fluff the rice with a large fork or large wide serving spoon.

Arrange on a platter.

An tasty variation:

At the end of cooking the rice you have the option of adding fried onions.  It is very, very delicious!  I do not do this often because it is fatty but try to at least make it this way once.  You will need the following:

1 small onion, chopped

1/4 cup cooking oil

Heat the oil in a frying pan.  When hot add the chopped onion and stir.  Stir the onion every now and then until it becomes a nice golder color.

Now take a large spoon and scoop out the fried onion and scatter it over the cooked rice that is still in the pot.  Drizzle the oil that you cooked the onion in over the rice. 

When it is time to serve the rice.  You will fluff the rice and the onion and oil will be incorporated into the rice.  Yummy!

(No pictures available right now, but I will post ASAP)

Marak Laham, Salona Laham, Meat Stew

This delicious stew is a regular lunch staple at my home.  I use lamb because this is preferred by us at home and when I cook with lamb the meat is more tender.  You could use beef if you wish but here in the UAE the beef available never cooks tender no matter what method I use to cook it.  It always turns out chewy and stringy.  

The stew is very versatile in that you can cook it with or without vegetables and you can make it is thick or thin as you like.   It can be served with plain white rice or flat bread. 

I finally got around to taking pictures and uploading them.  Much more pleasing to the eye and you will know what the end product will look like!  I will try do that to all the new recipes I post from now on, InshaAllah.

 

2 cups of chopped purple onions

2-3 cloves of minced garlic

1-inch cube of ginger, grated

2 cups chopped tomatoes

1 medium-sized capsicum (green bell pepper) chopped

½ cup finely chopped parsley

¼ cup corn oil

1 kilo lamb stew meat with bone, cubed into 2-inch pieces

1 ½ teaspoons Madras Curry powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 teaspoon ground loomi aswad

½ teaspoon ground cardamom

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground red kashmiri chili powder

2 cubes of Maggi Chicken stock

1-2 green chilies, whole

1 loomi aswad (dried black lemon), whole

¼ cup tomato paste

1 ½ liters of water (about 6 cups)

* Potatoes, calabaza squash, zucchini, okra, carrots (see the star below)

Salt to taste

In a medium-sized cooking pot, heat the corn oil.  When hot add the chopped onion.

When the onion is translucent, add the lamb cubes.  Stir often and sauté the lamb until it is nicely golden brown on all sides.

Add the minced garlic and grated ginger.  Stir to mix.

Add the chopped tomatoes and all of the ground spices.  Mix together and sauté until the tomato becomes very soft (like a mushy consistency).

Add the capsicum/bell pepper and the chopped parsley.  Stir.

Add the tomato paste and water.  Stir.

Add the green chilies and the whole piece of loomi aswad.

Bring the stew to a boil and then lower the flame to very, very low.  Let the stew simmer, covered, for 1 ½ hours or until the lamb is tender.

After the lamb is tender, the liquid level should be at half the pot.  At this point you will need to add more water or boil until the liquid level is half of the pot.

* You can now add your vegetables.  For my large family, I will usually add 3 large potatoes.  Each potato is quartered and added to the pot after the lamb becomes tender.   If you wish to add a mixture of vegetables you can use:

                1 large potato, quartered

                1 carrot cut into 1 ½ inch chunks

                1-2 small squash

                Potatoes and carrots are the usual combinations though that I have

                seen.

If you add vegetables to your stew, you will need to add approximately 30 minutes to the cooking time.

After adding the vegetables, bring the stew to a soft boil and after 10 minutes, taste and adjust for salt.  When I cook with potatoes I will add an additional 1 teaspoon of salt (but this is for my family).  Softly boil for an additional 20 minutes or until the potatoes are soft.

Your stew is now ready to enjoy!  Serve with plain Basmati rice or Khobuz Irani (if you are in the UAE) and a nice green salad made from a mixture of local-grown greens!

Spiced Tomato Rice

 

This is a wonderful and an extremely easy to make and rice dish that is delicious on its own served with a side dish of yogurt as a complete vegetarian meal or as a nice complement to my version of baked chicken. 

 

If you are married to a finicky  Emirati husband who is reluctant to try dishes that he did not grow up with then this dish, in my opinion, with the spices I have used gives it a close enough Arab or Indian flavor that he will be used to.  I am sure that this will become a family favorite.

 

This recipe can easily be doubled and is terrific to take to a potluck or Ramadan get-together.

 

2 cups of basmati rice, washed and soaked for at least 30 minutes

2 tablespoons of ghee

½ cup of chopped onion

1 cup of chopped tomato

¼ cup of chopped cilantro

½ cup of chopped green bell pepper

1-2 cloves of minced garlic

1 green chili chopped; or deseeded and chopped (this ingredient is optional)

1 teaspoon cumin powder

1 teaspoon coriander powder

½ teaspoon ginger powder

½ teaspoon cardamom powder

¼ teaspoon red Kashmiri chili powder

1 cinnamon stick

2 Maggi chicken stock cubes

Pinch of black pepper

2 tablespoons tomato paste

3 cups of hot water

 

In a large pot, sauté the onion in the ghee until lightly browned. 

 

Add the tomatoes, bell pepper and cilantro. Stir well.

 

Add all of the spices, Maggi stock cubes, and tomato paste.  Mix well.

 

Bring to a boil and then cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

 

Drain the rice and then add to the pot.

 

Add the 3 cups of hot water.  Gently stir.

 

Bring to a boil.  Lower the fire to very low and cover.  Cook for 17 minutes.

 

Serve this with my recipes for yogurt and cucumber salad and tangy baked chicken.

Tangy Baked Chicken

 

This baked chicken recipe pairs well with my Spiced Tomato Rice recipe.  It was an experiment in the combination of spices I used.  I first made this dish over 11 years ago and it has become a dish that I make often.

 

In this recipe, I use black lemon powder.  This tiny dried lemon is a staple pantry ingredient here in the UAE home.  It is a key lime and is dried out in the sun and then used whole or in powder form in cooking for stews and mitchboos rice dishes. The dried lemon will either be black or brownish in color.  I prefer to use the black lemons.  If you live in the UAE or other Gulf countries then this is called Loomi Aswad and can be bought in either whole or powder form.  If you live in the States, this dried lemon is available whole and can be bought at any Arab supermarket.  When you get home just break a whole bunch of them open and take out the seeds and then grind them in a spice grinder.

 

The ingredients I give are for one baked chicken.  I have a big family and I usually make three fresh chickens 600 grams each!  Any leftovers make delicious cold sandwiches of course!

 

1 kg (2 pounds) of fresh chicken

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon paprika powder (OR 1 teaspoon Mexican chili powder seasoning)

1 teaspoon oregano or mixed Italian spices

1 teaspoon ground black lemon

1 teaspoon vinegar

1 tablespoon olive oil (or more to make a paste)

 

Clean your chicken very well inside and out.

 

In a small bowl, combine the remaining ingredients and mix well to form a paste.

 

Scoop up a bit of the paste and you will now coat the chicken inside and out with this paste.  If you have any paste leftover you can add it to the two pockets between the skin and breast meat area near the thigh.

 

Bake the chicken for 45 minutes to one hour or until done.

 

Enjoy!

Tomato and Egg Scramble

This is a dish that I will regularly serve for breakfast and dinner.  I usually serve it with sliced cucumbers, olives, and feta cheese drizzled with olive oil.  I also serve it with either Lebanese khobuz or Khobuz Irani.  This is another favorite of my children.

 

The recipe I am giving is for just one serving.  It easily doubles and triples.  For my family, I will use 8-10 eggs, 2 ½ cups of chopped tomatoes, and I will increase the spice amounts to 1 ½ teaspoons.

 

Ingredients for one serving:

2 eggs

½ cup chopped tomato

3 tablespoons cooking oil

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground tumeric

Salt to taste

 

Heat the oil in a pan and add the chopped tomato.  Saute until the tomato is “mushy”. 

 

In a small bowl add the eggs and whisk until thoroughly mixed.

 

Add the spices and salt and stir.  Now add the eggs and with a wooden spoon slowly stir until the eggs are cooked.

 

Serve hot and enjoy!

Chicken Soup

I experimented with this soup during Ramadan 2008 and came up with a soup that has a very rich taste, and silky texture. It is absolutely delicious. Other ingredients can easily be added to it such as corn, diced chicken breast, mixed vegetables, or vermicelli noodles. The stock for this soup comes from the Fried Chicken Emirati Style and Yellow Rice recipes.

Chicken Soup

Strained stock from the above two recipes
5 tablespoons oatmeal
generous pinch of saffron
juice of one lemon
two Maggi chicken stock cubes (optional)
one cup of vermicelli noodles

The stock that you will have from the Yellow Rice recipe will fill a huge pot. Boil the stock until it reduces to half a pot.

Put the oatmeal in grinder to turn it into a powder. Add water to the oatmeal and stir until there are no longer any lumps. It should be smooth and watery. Add this to the chicken stock and stir with a large whisk.

Add the saffron, lemon juice, stock cubes, and noodles (optional but I like to add it). Stir well. Bring to a boil and then turn the fire to low.

At this point, you can feel free to add a cup of diced chicken breast, 1/2 a cup of corn, or 1/2 a cup of mixed vegetables.

Let simmer for at least 10 minutes so the noodles can cook.

That’s it! Very easy and very tasty. I hope that you enjoy it.

Madhrooba

This is a delicious recipe. This dish gets its name from the very large wooden spoon used to beat the mixture until it resembles very thick oatmeal. I don’t have a “madhrooba” spoon so I use my hand mixer (though not traditional) which gives the same results (in my opinion). It is popular during Ramadan for Iftar and Suhoor. This is absolutely even more delicious the next day. It is a little time consuming to make but the results are worth it.

Madhrooba (maTH-roo-ba)

1 chicken (1 kg) thoroughly washed inside and out

1 cup of onion, finely chopped
2 large cloves of garlic, grated
3 cups of tomato, finely chopped or shredded
1 bell pepper, finely chopped
1 green chili, chopped (optional)
1 bunch of fresh coriander (kuzbara) finely chopped
2-3 tablespoons of tomato paste

4 Maggi cubes
1 teaspoon black dried lime powder
1 teaspoon cardamon powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder
1 teaspoon ginger powder
1 tablespoon bezar (mixed gulf spices) or

1 tsp curry powder + 1 tsp cumin powder + 1 tsp tumeric powder + 1 tsp coriander powder

3 cups of Jereesh (broken wheat, not pearl barley
1 cup yogurt
salt and pepper to taste
melted butter, ghee (samen)

In a large pot, boil the chicken until done. Remove the chicken and let it cool. Save the stock. Then skin and debone. Cut the chicken into small pieces or shred it.

In a very, very large pot, add 1/4 cup of oil and saute the onions until translucent. Add the garlic, tomatoes, bell pepper, and chili. Cook until the tomatoes are mushy. Add the cut up chicken and cook stirring frequently for about 5 minutes. Add the spices and tomato paste.

Add the Jereesh to the pot along with 3 litres of water. Bring it to a boil. You will need to stir this occasionally because it will eventually start sticking to the bottom of the pot.

When the Jereesh softens and most of the water is gone you will need to reduce the flame to very low. It is best to put a cast iron sheet (like the kind to make raqoq with…looks like a pizza pan but is about 1/4 inch thick, 15 inches wide and made of cast iron) underneath the pot so the bottom will not burn.

Cook for about 2 hours. Check often and add hot water if needed.

At this point, adjust the seasoning to your tastes. Add yogurt and mix well.

Now remove the madhrooba from the heat. You will now be using the electric mixer to mix until it is a very thick oatmeal-like consistency. You have to be very careful because it will of course be very hot. Put the mixer into the madhrooba before turning it on or else you will have madhrooba flying all over your kitchen and you will get burned!! Just move that mixer all over the pot making sure that the chicken blends in really well with the Jareesh.

Now your done!

To serve, place madhrooba either in a deep oval serving dish or for individual serving into bowl-plates. Drizzle with the melted butter or ghee.

Enjoy! And don’t forget to share with your neighbors during Ramadan!