I recently discovered a new Indian restaurant that makes some of the most perfectly-cooked rice I’ve come across in a few years. I pride myself on my own rice cooking abilities, and thus feel a sense of wonder when I see someone who is doing it so much better.Part of the secret here lies in the use of high-quality long-grain Jasmine rice. I also wonder if they are using a rice cooker, although I think not. This vegetarian entree features a version of this rice, layered with raisins, almonds, fried onions, seasoned garbanzo beans, and fresh herbs.
Ingredients
2cupssunflower seed oil(for frying the red onion)
3red onions(finely-sliced)
1Tbspminced ginger
2Tbspminced garlic
3whole cloves
3whole black peppercorns
3whole green cardamom pods
16ozgarbanzo beans(rinsed and drained)
1tspKosher salt
2tspKashmiri chili powder(or sweet paprika)
¼dried oregano
¼tspgarlic powder
¼tsponion powder
2cupsJasmine long-grain rice
3cupswater
1tspground garam masala spice mix
½cupdried raisins
¼cupslivered almonds
½cupfresh parsley leaves(roughly chopped)
½cupfresh cilantro leaves(roughly chopped)
2fresh mint leaves(finely sliced)
Kosher salt and freshly-ground black pepper(to taste)
Cucumber yogurt sauce(raita, or cucumbers + yogurt, for serving)
Mango chutney(for serving)
Instructions
Add the sunflower seed oil to a Dutch oven, and increase the heat to medium-high.
When the oil is roughly 350˚F and hot enough for frying, add the onions in batches and cook until golden-brown in color.
Drain the onions on paper towels.
When you are ready to begin cooking, reserve two Tablespoons of the oil, and add the minced ginger and minced garlic, along with the whole cloves, black peppercorns, green cardamom pods, and drained (cooked) garbanzo beans.
Add the Kosher salt, Kashmiri chili powder, dried oregano, garlic powder, and onion powder, and cook for an additional three minutes.
Remove the garbanzo bean mixture from the heat.
In a rice cooking pot, add the long grain rice and rinse under cold water until the water runs clear.
Drain the excess water, and add three cups of cold water, along with the ground garam masala spice mix, dried raisins, and slivered almonds.
Bring the mixture to a simmer, and reduce the heat to low.
Cover with a tight-fitting lid, and cook the rice for fifteen minutes.
When the rice is 90% cooked, remove from the heat.
Preheat the oven to 375˚F.
In a Dutch oven or large oven-safe pot with a lid, add layers of the partially-cooked rice, fresh herbs, fried onions, and garbanzo bean mixture until you run out of ingredients.
Bake the contents covered with a lid at 375˚F for roughly twenty minutes.
Remove from the oven, and serve with some cucumber yogurt dipping sauce (raita) and some mango chutney.
Notes
This dish tastes great reheated and served as leftovers. The additional cucumber raita and sweet mango chutney complement the earthy and spicy flavors in the rice and garbanzo beans.