Beautiful golden yellow rice made fragrant with cumin, cardamom, cinnamon and more – this pilau rice is the perfect accompaniment to any curry dish and couldn’t be easier to make. With the onion gently softened, the spices cooked out and the basmati rice mixed through, the ingredients are transferred to the rice cooker where it’ll slowly take care of itself, leaving you free to put together your favourite curry dishes to accompany it. Enjoy!
- 1 cup basmati rice (rice cooker cup)
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- Pinch sea salt
- 2 whole cloves
- 1 green cardamom pod crushed
- 1 tej patta bay leaf
- 1/4 cinnamon stick
- 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
- 1 small onion finely chopped
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Wash the basmati rice two or three times in cold water until the water runs clear. Drain thoroughly and set aside. In a small bowl, add the cumin powder, turmeric, sea salt, whole cloves, crushed cardamom, bay leaf and cinnamon stick. Set aside.
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Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the chopped onion and stir-fry until soft (around 3 minutes). Add the prepared bowl of spices and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the washed and drained rice and stir well until the rice is evenly coated with the oil and spices.
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Pour the ingredients from the frying pan into the inner pot of your rice cooker and add water to the 1st measuring mark in the pot. Cook the rice on 'white / long grain' mode. When the rice is cooked, mix well with a rice spoon, remove the whole spices and leave on 'keep warm' mode for 10 minutes. Mix well once more to fluff up the rice and serve alongside your favourite curry dishes.
For added deliciousness, try adding a little melted butter or ghee to the cooked rice, mixing through just before serving.
If you like this Pilau Rice recipe, you might be interested in buying my book: The Indian Takeaway Secret 
