Passport & Plate - Pilau - aromatic rice dish
Pakistan | Friday, March 6, 2015 | 5 photos
Ingredients
Makes 2 servings:
knob of butter
1 big onion diced (The original recipe says white onion, but I prefer red.)
¾ cup of peas (frozen or fresh)
¼ tsp salt
150 g basmati rice
water
spices:
3 white pepper corns (I couldn’t find these in the shop so used ¼ tsp ground white pepper instead.)
3 black pepper corns
1 pinch of cumin seeds
2 cloves
2 cardamom pods
2 cm of a cinnamon stick
1 pinch of roasted cumin seeds, ground (optional)
2 table spoons of chopped parsley (optional)
How to prepare this recipe1. Crush the spices. I use pestle and mortar for this, but you could give them a quick whizz in a food processor instead if you wish.
2. Warm a saucepan over a medium heat. Add the butter and onion.
3. Fry the onion till it gets soft and light brown.
4. Add the spices and stir for 30 seconds.
5. Take a deep breath and absorb all those wonderful fragrances!
6. Now add the peas and salt.
7. Tip in the rice and give it all one big final stir. Make sure all of the rice is coated in butter and the spices.
8. Finally, pour in water. The ratio rice : water should be 1 : 1 ¼, so 1 cup of rice : 1 ¼ cup of water.
9. Let the water come to a boil, turn the heat down low and put the lid on the pan.
10. Let the spices work their magic on the rice for the next 15 minutes. Don’t stir the rice in this time. You could add a splash of water if necessary, but only a splash as you don’t want the rice to get sticky!
11. Take the pan of the heat, remove the lid and fluff the rice with a fork before dishing it up.
12. Sprinkle with a pinch of roasted ground cumin and chopped parsley.
The story behind this recipeIt’s funny how smells have the ability to transport you to a completely different time and space. Same goes for comfort food: it warms you up in your heart and tummy and brings back happy childhood memories from when you felt safe and loved. This is exactly what this rice dish does to me: it reminds me of standing in the kitchen with my mum as a young girl, helping her by stirring in the pan while she adds spices that open up such wonderful fragrances once they hit the heat of the pan.
There are many variations and names for this perfumed rice dish, depending on what country you’re in. My pilau recipe originates from Pakistan and my mother learned it from my father. Since my parents got divorced, my mum was the only person in the family who could cook this meal. And now she taught me.
My biological father left my mother, brother and me a few days after I was born. His motivation was simple: I was born a girl and not a boy. It never crossed my mind to contact him, but I am curious now to know what innate character traits I got from him. My mum says I get my height from him. That must be true as she’s only 1.53m tall and I tower over her.
I feel like such an alien to my family at times: my mother and brother don’t care a bit about travelling, they are happiest when they’re at home and eat ‘their own’ food, while I’m constantly travelling, going out for dinner, taking cooking workshops or experimenting at home with homemade pasta, fresh Thai curry pastes and almond-based pizzas cooked from scratch. Recently my mother revealed my father also used to love travelling and food, all different kinds of cuisines, just like me! Suddenly it all fell into place: I got my sense of adventure and urge to explore the world with all her cultures and cuisines from my father! So now when I eat this aromatic dish, I don’t only think of my mum and my younger self in the kitchen, but also embrace that one good thing my dad gave me: an appetite for good food and travel.
