Thursday, May 29, 2008

Curry rice

This is a variation of the previous recipe and it is very easy to make, given that you have curry (Curry in itself is difficult to describe since it is a term that describes a family of sauces and spices, refer to wikipedia for more info).

Ingredients (4 people)
----------------------
2 Teaspoons of curry
2 Cups of rice
3.5 cups of boiled water
Oil (I prefer olive oil)
Salt, pepper, garlic.

Instructions
------------
Boil the water, as in the previous recipe don't let it boil long just let it reach the boiling temperature.
Put the rice on a pot and add salt and oil to it. 4 teaspoons of oil should be more than enough, but it is up to you.
Fry the rice, but don't let it burn. As soon as you see some grains turning really white, turn the fire to low position.
Add the boiling water, and after that add the curry and mix. Depending on the amount of curry used, the colour it will take. 4 Teaspoons should give a pale yellow color on the final rice. For most people that it is more than enough spice, you need to adjust it to your own taste.
Put the lid on the pot and let it cook for 10 minutes on medium to low fire. As in the previous recipe, check the rice after 8 minutes to see how it's going.
This rice goes well with spicy foods, such as spicy chicken.

White "fried" rice

This is the simplest kind of rice, it is the base for all of the other preparations.

Ingredients (1 to two persons)
-----------
1 Cup of rice
1.75 Cups of boiled water
Oil (I prefer olive oil, but you can use your own favorite)
Salt, pepper

Instructions
------------
Boil the water, do not let it boil long just let it reach the boiling temperature.
Put the rice in a small pot and add the salt and a little bit of oil (2 teaspoons should be enough for one cup). Heat it and let it there for 2 to 3 minutes while stirring with a wooden spoon. The secred is to avoid the rice to get burn, so watch it carefully, as soon as you notice some rice grains getting really white, lower the fire and move to the next step).
The next step is to add the boiling water to the pot and put the lid on top of it. Let it cook on a medium to low fire for about 10 minutes. Try to avoid looking at the rice every minute since it will loose the pressure.
Open the lid after 8 minutes and take a look at the rice, at that point, there should be very little water and the water should be boiling. Close the lid and wait a few minutes until the water is gone. Be aware that if you wait too long the rice will burn and stick to the bottom, if you do it before time you risk the rice to be still not fully cooked.
If everything goes perfect, you should have a very nice rice that goes wonderful with almost any dish you want to prepare. For extra taste you can add a few slices of garlic to it (according to your personal preferences).

Rice

I thought that rice was easy enough for anybody to be able to prepare it, but I found out that most people do not know how to make proper rice so I decided to add a few recipes here. They go in increasing level of difficulty and they can be used for different dishes, I tried to make a list of potential dishes on each case.