I would like to know the secret of cooking perfect pilau rice side dishes as produced in Indian restaurants! What makes the rice taste slightly sweet, is it sugar or rosewater? I use basmati rice and have tried many spices and methods but what are the exact ingredients?
2006-10-23 22:26:58 · 5 answers · asked by currymistress 1 in Food & Drink ➔ Ethnic Cuisine
Hey good question! Could this be part of the answer? -
I noticed some big flat fragrant green leaves in my pilau rice recently and asked the waiter what they were. He went and asked the chef, who claimed that they were bay leaves. So I went to an Indian supermarket and, sure enough, they were selling these very wide, veiny bay leaves (they look quite different to european ones). I tried using them at home but, although the smell was familiar, it still wasn't pilau rice.
I have a feeling they fry the rice in a hell of a lot of fat (ghee?) before adding the water, too, and there have to be a couple of other herbs involved.
Sorry it's just a clue...
2006-10-24 02:16:34 · answer #1 · answered by Alyosha 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
a mixture of all the spices mentioned - cardamom. bay, cinnamon, but mainly caramelising onions with the spices in ghee before adding the rice - no sugar!! you can add a bit of rosewater i suppose but i've never seen it done. whilst its a sweet smell its difft to pilau fragrance.
2006-10-25 11:28:14 · answer #2 · answered by third space 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Is it perhaps the cardamom pods flavour you are referring to? I like the flavour they give pilau rice, but hate when they are left in it, biting into a cardamom pod is ugh! I don't mind the bay leaves, you can see them more easily and pick them out. I often find whole cloves in there too.
2006-10-24 10:34:35 · answer #3 · answered by katy1pm 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes they sometimes add sugar, I love indian cuisine too
http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~palwal/Pilau.html
2006-10-26 12:27:44 · answer #4 · answered by cheyenne 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Add coriander!
2006-10-27 08:30:17 · answer #5 · answered by shirley p 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋