The Easy 30 Minute Fragrant Pilau Rice

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Pilau rice is a staple side dish of Indian food. It's a quick and easy side dish that makes the most of some plain rice and some basic spices. And it's so much better to make your own rather than buy it or get a takeaway.

There are so many different versions of pilau rice, so I set about to make a simple version that is quick and easy to cook and has a simple ingredient list that we can get from Aldi. The goal for pilau rice is golden turmeric spiced rice with light fluffy grains that separate easily. It goes perfectly with this coconut chicken curry, the Moroccan lamb tagine and this slow cooker chicken korma.

This version of pilau rice is made with basmati. It's nutty, rich and fragrant. Basmati rice undergoes a 2-year drying process to concentrate the flavours. It also helps to make sure that the grains of rice are light and fluffy once their cooked.

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Why You'll Love This Recipe
Ingredients needed
Step By Step Instructions
Recipe FAQ's
Equipment
Storage
Recipe

Why You'll Love This Recipe

It's so much better than any pilau rice that you will buy.
Pilau rice doesn't take any longer than cooking regular rice.
It goes with so many dishes that you probably already make and dresses up plain white rice.
It's very adaptable and you can make it your own by playing around with the spice mix.

Ingredients needed

basmati rice
vegetable stock
onion and garlic
spices- turmeric, bay leaf, cinnamon stick, cumin, ground coriander, and cloves

See the recipe card for quantities.

Step By Step Instructions

Step 1

Start by softening the onions and garlic in some butter. Add in some thyme leaves (you can use dried here) and continue to cook until the onions and garlic are fragrant, soft and translucent. Add in the spices and the bay leaf.

onions in a pan for pilau rice side dish

Step 2

Mix in the basmati rice and stir well to get all the grains coated in the spices. Season with a pinch of salt.

Step 3

Pour in the vegetable stock and bring to a simmer. Cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid and turn it down to low heat. Continue to cook for about 11-15 minutes, until the rice is tender and all the stock has been absorbed.
Fluff the rice with a fork and let stand for about 5 minutes with the lid back on. Once the 5 minutes have passed, remove the lid and take out the bay leaf and the cloves.

Hint: To make the absorption method of cooking rice work really well, it's important to have a pan with a tight-fitting lid.

Recipe FAQ's

Should I rinse my rice before cooking it?

Rinsing or soaking the rice before cooking undoes that process and leaves you with finished rice that is sticky and wet. The absolute opposite of what we’re trying to achieve. So, no. Skip the rinsing completely.

Should I use the absorpotion or boiling method?

A very common method of cooking rice to place it in a pot of boiling water and drain it once it's cooked. Very much the way you would cook pasta. However, because we're relying on all the spices to bring so much flavour, we want to use the absorprion method so the rice absorbs the spices along with the stock without being diluted.

Equipment

Equipment can have a big impact on how a recipe turns out. All you need for this recipe is a pan with a tight fitting lid. This pan works so great because it has a glass lid so you can keep an eye on what's going on.

Storage

This rice stores really well for up to 2 days in the fridge or up to 2 months in the freezer.

Storing rice can be a little tricky. It's very important that it gets cooled down as quickly as possible due to the bacteria Bacillus cereus. It's a food poisoning baceria that's present in rice and grows quickly the longer cooked rice is left at room temperature. So, cool rice quickly and store for only a short period of time before reheating thoroughly. Only reheat rice once.

Need help with meal planning? You can find our (Aldi ingredients only) weekly meal plans here! Sign up to receive them free every week or take our quick meal planning course and grab the blank meal planner and use all these recipes to create your own meal plans. Follow along on Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook.

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