Category: rice

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food lamb prawns rice

lamb and prawn peking rice

lamb and prawn peking rice with spring onions and red pepper

Imagine my surprise when I was invited to a product launch by Tilda demonstrating a range of ready-to-stir-fry rices complete with flavourings. Unlike some foodies I have no aversion to prepared foods if the content is good and the results are delicious; in the real world we have people to feed often on a certain budget in a limited time. I’ve used the already-cooked rices and noodles many times before, and these stir-fry specific ones seem like a neat shortcut.

First a word about the venue. It was hosted at the 52 Cookery School, an ordinary looking Georgian building hiding a mazey, eclectic and beautiful interior. Clearly a working house built around entertaining and cooking, it was a quirky and adorable venue that hid charms around every corner. (The foot-operated toilet flush stymied many). A spiral staircase, a cooker the size of many small cars and dozens of steps are just some of the delights of this delightful place.

A series of recipes were presented in an amiable and easy-going style by Jo Pratt. She cooked a Thai prawn soup, sesame chicken toast, peking duck wraps and a lamb dish, all bolstered with the rices promoted. They were all tasty, particularly the soup which I’ll be trying myself soon. And then the chaos began.

We quickly assembled ourselves into small groups and clustered round gas-fired woks to begin creating our own stir-fry masterpieces. I partnered with Kavey and Anne, foragers of the highest order who immediately zoomed off to procure the best ingredients. Sneaking sideways glances at the ‘opposition’ Kavey began marinating lamb in soy sauce while I got on with stir-frying garlic slivers (that quickly burned and got flicked out of the pan). Anne found a mound of veg and quickly we began to throw stuff into the pan with gay abandon. Maintaining my stir-fry rules of 1) keep it as hot as it will go and 2) keep stirring I was designated stirrer. When we decided we’d cooked long enough, we all sat in a cool courtyard and tucked in, spoons a-blazing into our pile of rice and goodies. Jolly nice it was too. The ingredients benefited from short but scorching cooking, retaining their flavours and no doubt nutritional content too. The Peking rice possessed a pleasant aroma and satisfying building block to the meal.

Despite attending the event in full knowledge of the PR sorcery being performed on me I genuinely like the products. The light cooking of stir-frying gives advantages in being quick and fresh-tasting, and rice an effective way of pushing the meal out a little further. Lovely stuff. Apparently they’re available from Waitrose at £1.79 for two sachets (each serving two), so do give them a try as a quick meal fix.

Lamb and prawn peking rice:

1 lamb leg steak, sliced into finger-sized pieces

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 clove garlic, sliced thinly

1 inch of ginger, cut into matchsticks

½ red pepper, sliced

½ red onion, cut into half-moons

1 sachet of Tilda Peking stir-fry rice

2 spring onions, 1 cut into rings and another into matchsticks

Handful of peeled prawns

Few coriander leaves, chopped

  1. Leave the lamb in the soy sauce to marinate (in an idea world, for a couple of hours. In our example, about 14 seconds).
  2. Get a wok dead hot and add a couple of tablespoons oil. Heat until smoking and add the garlic. Cook for one minute until fragrant and add the lamb.
  3. Keep the lamb moving around the pan until coloured all over, then add the ginger, pepper and onion.
  4. Continue to stir-fry for a couple of minutes until the veg starts to feel tender, and then add the rice, rings of spring onion and prawns.
  5. Keep stirring until the prawns have turned luscious and pink. Serve with sliced spring onions and stir through some coriander.
Categories
food rice tomato

koshari

I’m quite a fan of pilaff-style dishes and this Ottolenghi feast is no exception. Tasty as always, though I’m not entirely convinced all three carbs are essential: lentils, noodles and rice? I’d drop either of the first two and probably not notice. To round it out I also wanted some veg so I bunged a few green beans in and they provided a satisfying fresh crunch.

Koshari:

300g green lentils (I used tinned to avoid the dull and lengthy cooking process)

200g basmati rice

40g unsalted butter

50g spaghetti, broken into 4 cm pieces

400ml vegetable stock

½ teaspoon grated nutmeg

1 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

4 tablespoons olive oil

2 white onions, halved and thinly sliced

Handful of green beans, cut into 4cm pieces

For the tomato sauce:

4 tablespoons olive oil

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 red chillies, seeded and finely diced

Tin of tomatoes

370 ml water

4 tablespoons cider vinegar

3 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons ground cumin

Handful of coriander leaves

  1. For the sauce, heat the olive oil in a saucepan, add the garlic and fry for 2 minutes. Add the rest of the sauce ingredients apart from the coriander. Bring to the boil, then simmer for about 20 minutes til slightly thickened. Remove from heat, stir in coriander. Season to taste with salt, pepper, more coriander if you like. Keep it hot or leave it to cool – either will work with the hot kosheri.
  2. To make the kosheri, melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the raw noodles, stir and continue frying and stirring til the pasta turns golden brown. Add the rice and mix well. Now add the stock, nutmeg, cinnamon, lentils, and season. Bring to the boil, cover and then reduce the heat to a minimum and simmer for 12 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave the lid for a further 15 minutes.
  3. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan, add the onions and saute over medium heat for about 15 minutes til dark brown. Boil or steam the green beans until knife tender and add to the onions. Stir around so they absorb the oniony oil.
  4. To serve, lightly break up the rice with a fork and then add the lentils and most of the onions, reserving a few for garnish. Taste for seasoning and adjust accordingly. Pile the rice high on a serving platter and top with the remaining onions. Serve with the tomato sauce.
Categories
cardamom cinnamon coriander food rice

aromatic rice

This is the rice from the chicken tikka masala recipe. I’ve broken it out to it’s own page otherwise I have trouble finding it!

Aromatic rice:

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, peeled and bashed

1 cinnamon stick

3 cloves

4 cardamom pods

1 cupful rice per person

  1. Fry the onion gently until softened, then add the garlic.
  2. Add the spices and stir, allowing them to warm.
  3. Add the rice and a generous sprinkle of salt, stir will to coat the rice in the spiced oil. Top up the pan with three times the amount of water to rice. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer.
  4. Cover the pan and allow to simmer for ten minutes – do not lift the lid.
  5. Turn off the heat and leave for a further ten minutes, leaving the lid on.
  6. Stir through with a fork and grind over plenty of black pepper. If you have any left over from the curry, throw in some parsley too.
Categories
cauliflower chicken curry food rice

chicken tikka masala

Every couple of months I get the urge to make another curry, and I’ve made plenty in the last year. It was a Saturday dish, so I had to time to put a little effort in. After a little research I settled on Jamie Oliver’s chicken tikka masala from Jamie’s Dinners. I still had some garam masala left over from a Heston-inspired blend some months ago so that was going to be my main spice base. Also with recent experiments in brining being met with a great deal of success I had to stick some brining in as the first stage. You could skip this bit if you wanted to, but I love the moistness and depth of flavour this imparts.

I wanted a vegetable side-dish and love the way cauliflower absorbs curry flavours. The key for me is to almost overcook it – a soft, squishy floret bursting with spice is the way to go here.

Plain rice is always sniffed at in my house so I have to be creative with it. I remembered a delicious rice dish by the cuddly Nigel Slater, from my most favourite of his books Appetite. I’ve eaten it before just on it’s own, but gently pared down it makes a tasty – yet interesting – bowl of rice.

The curry itself was time-consuming (aren’t they all?) but thankfully very, very tasty. In fact about the most ‘authentic’ (yes, of course I mean authentic to that you find in a takeaway) tikka masala recipe I’ve eaten. Creamy, nutty and boasting spice from within. The cauliflower was a tasty foil for the curry, with aromatic rice to back it up. (On a side note, both Jamie’s and Nigel’s recipe called for at least 1 chilli in each – we’re not so crazy about super-hot things in our house, so I’ve omitted them to let the spices speak for themselves. By all means chuck some in if they’re your thing).

A dead tasty nottakeaway.

Chicken tikka masala (serves 3):

For the brine:

1 litre water

2 tablespoons sea salt

5 tablespoons honey

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 cardamom pods, cracked

3 cloves

2 chicken breasts, diced

For the tikka marinade:

6 cloves garlic, grated

3 inches fresh ginger, grated

1 tablespoon mustard seeds

1 tablespoon paprika

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons ground coriander

2 tablespoons garam masala

200g natural yoghurt

For the masala sauce:

2 onions, sliced

2 tablespoons garam masala

2 tablespoons tomato puree

2 tablespoons ground almonds

120ml double cream

Handful parsley, chopped

  1. Mix the brine ingredients together and soak the chicken in the water for at least 2 hours, anywhere up to 8 hours.
  2. Drain and rinse the chicken well. Discard the liquid.
  3. Heat the mustard seeds in a splash of oil until they start to pop (about 2 minutes). Remove the seeds from the pan and stir into the other ingredients. Coat the chicken with the yoghurt mix and leave to marinate for half an hour.
  4. In the same pan the mustard seeds were warmed in, add some butter and fry the onions gently with the garam masala. Leave to sweat and soften for 15 minutes.
  5. Meanwhile, grill the chicken pieces on both sides until cooked through.
  6. Back at the onions, ad the tomato puree, almonds, 1 litre water and a good sprinkle of salt. Allow to bubble and reduce until thick.
  7. Add the cream and check the seasoning. Add the chicken into the sauce and stir well to coat the meat and let the flavours mingle.
  8. Stir in the parsley and serve.

Gobi masala:

1 head of cauliflower, cut into small florets to cook evenly

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon garam masala

200ml vegetable stock

  1. Heat the butter in a small saucepan until foaming. Add the spice and cook for a minute.
  2. Add the florets and toss well to coat in the spice butter. Cook for another minute.
  3. Add the stock and boil fairly fast until the cauliflower is knife-tender.
  4. Turn off the heat and put a lid on it for about ten minutes. The cauliflower will soak up some of the excess fluid.

Aromatic rice:

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, peeled and bashed

1 cinnamon stick

3 cloves

4 cardamom pods

1 cupful rice per person

  1. Fry the onion gently until softened, then add the garlic.
  2. Add the spices and stir, allowing them to warm.
  3. Add the rice and a generous sprinkle of salt, stir will to coat the rice in the spiced oil. Top up the pan with three times the amount of water to rice. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer.
  4. Cover the pan and allow to simmer for ten minutes – do not lift the lid.
  5. Turn off the heat and leave for a further ten minutes, leaving the lid on.
  6. Stir through with a fork and grind over plenty of black pepper. If you have any left over from the curry, throw in some parsley too.
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