Discovering my Limitless Potential

Passport & Plate - Swahili Pilau

Kenya | Saturday, March 8, 2014 | 5 photos

Ingredients:
1/4kg Beef cubes
5 Cups - Water
1 - Garlic, crushed
2 - Onions, diced
1 - Tomato, diced
4 - Potatoes, cubed
2 - Carrots, sliced
2 Cups - Rice, uncooked (I like Basmati, Jasmine, or Pishori)
3 Tbsp - Pilau Masala Spice**
4 Tbsp - Butter
Salt
Pepper

Optional: A glass of wine, your favorite cheese, and olives

**You can make your own pilau masala spice by combining the following
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp whole black peppercorns
1 tbsp whole cloves (not to be confused with garlic)
1 cinnamon stick (or 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon)
1/2 tsp cardamom pods (or 1/4 tsp ground cardamom)

How to prepare this recipe:
Take a sip of your wine and a bite of cheese or olives (if you chose to use these ingredients) and get ready to enjoy a new simple cooking experience. Continue to enjoy your wine and accompaniments throughout the preparation at your leisure. It always makes cooking more fun.

1. Rinse your rice 3x and soak it for a half an hour then drain it and put it aside
2. Boil beef cubes in the water till beef is very tender. An hour or two is best. Don't Discard the Broth and continue to add water if needed to have around 4 cups reserved.
3. Add one of the diced onions, the tomato, and the crushed garlic to the beef and water mixture while it is boiling. Then add about a tsp of pepper and 2 tsp of salt. Allow to boil for about a half an hour to add flavour to the broth.
4. Melt butter (or you can substitute oil) in a big pot that is coverable
5. Add the other onion and the pilau mix to the butter and saute till soft. The house will start smelling heavenly.
6. Add the potatoes, and carrots and continue to cook for about 5 minutes. Stirring often.
7. Take the boiled beef out of the broth (still reserving the broth for later) and add it to the vegetable/pilau mixture and fry some more.
8. Add 4 cups of the reserved broth (you can add more water to make up the 4 cups if you need), and more salt. Add enough salt that you can taste it a little more than you would like in the final product and allow to simmer for a bit (I usually allow it to simmer for about 15 minutes or until my vegetables are getting soft)
9. Add the two cups of uncooked rice and stir it all together.
10. Cover and simmer until rice is tender.
11. Serve hot

The story behind this recipe:
My name is Tracy, and I am originally a Canadian. 5 years ago, I traveled to Kenya for the first time and fell in love with the people, the culture, and some of the Swahili dishes they fed me in their restaurants. Having traveled quite a bit in my life, I didn't typically return to the same place twice – but Kenya was an exception. In fact, I loved Kenya so much, I am now married here, and I live here. My husband would take me continuously to different restaurants to try their pilau and biryiani. Let me tell you, I was obsessed with how pilau tasted so good everywhere while being completely surprised at how it never looked the same anywhere. Some had potatoes, some had just rice and a couple pieces of meat, some had carrots, it was never consistent anywhere, but it was always delicious. Pilau is so foreign to my taste-buds and coming from Canada (a multi-cultural society with multi-cultural foods at my disposal) I was so surprised at how something so delicious could be so simple. Over the last few years, I have tried some of the supermarket packages to make it at home, but it was always unsatisfactory. I had tried different techniques from other people, and still…my home pilau was just average. One of my favorite thing about pilau is that is a full meal and you don't need to cook different sides to accompany it. When I had my second Kenyan-Canadian baby, my life changed in more ways than one! I had a lady come and help me out around the house and lucky for me, she was trained by a Swahili lady how to make Pilau, and she taught me her method. After seeing her method, and adjusting it to my tastes, my husband says I now make the best pilau in Kenya and believe me: he has tried a lot of pilau. I feel like I am officially part of Kenya’s heritage when I whip this up for locals when they come by. Now I just have to work on finding that perfect biryiani recipe!