We were going to the home of our son and daughter-in-law for dinner and my assignment was a rice dish to go with grilled salmon. I scrounged around my to-try recipes and found this one that appealed to me – a kind of Indian inspired dish from Padma Lakshmi, an Indian-born model, actress, and a cookbook author. Apparently she used to have a food network show (10 years or so ago). And occasionally I’ve read articles she’s penned in one or more of the foodie magazines. This recipe came from one of them – Food and Wine in June of 2007.
This could be a vegetarian entrée (Padma is a vegetarian), although the recipe below is prepared as a side dish (serves 8). You might think there’s a typo with the quantity of toasted sesame oil (1/2 cup) but no, that’s right. Generally in the cooking I do, a tablespoon might be sufficient in a dish, but the sesame oil is the only fat in this rice dish and it’s (surprisingly) not overwhelming at all. The rice is cooked up in a traditional manner with bay leaves. Meanwhile you toast the cumin seeds in the heated sesame oil, and have ready some chopped shallots and grated or minced fresh ginger. Plus turmeric, pepper, prunes and pistachios. The recipe also calls for star anise pods. I thought I had some, but scrounging in my spices I sure couldn’t find them, so obviously I didn’t use them (if using, they’re discarded – as well as the bay leaf – after they give off their scent and flavor). Once the rice is cooked, it goes out onto a platter or bowl. The topping (it’s not really a sauce) is poured on top and lastly add the pistachios.
This was good enough that I may have to make it again soon (especially since I have an opened bag of prunes to use up) because there weren’t any leftovers. One of the best parts is that it can be made a few hours ahead and left to sit out at room temp. I re-heated it in the microwave, but you can serve it either way – warm or cool. I liked the salty (salt on the pistachios), the sweet (the chopped up prunes), the savory (the shallots) and the texture altogether. This doesn’t have a curry flavor (just because it’s Indian doesn’t mean a dish is a curry one) at all. But the mixture does ring a Indian bell somehow.
Rice Pilaf with Pistachios and Prunes
Recipe By: Food & Wine, June, 2007 (Padma Lakshmi)
Serving Size: 8
5 cups water
2 1/2 cups basmati rice
4 small bay leaves
Kosher salt
1/2 cup Asian sesame oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
3 large shallots — thinly sliced (1 cup)
8 whole star anise — (optional)
2 teaspoons fresh ginger — very finely chopped
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon turmeric
8 prunes — pitted, coarsely chopped
2/3 cup pistachio nuts — salted, shelled
1. In a medium saucepan, bring the water to a boil. Add the rice, bay leaves and 1 teaspoon of salt and bring back to a boil. Cover and cook over low heat until the rice is tender and the water has been absorbed, about 25 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a medium skillet, heat the sesame oil. Add the cumin seeds and cook over moderate heat until sizzling, about 1 minute. Add the shallots, star anise pods, ginger, pepper and turmeric and cook, stirring, until the shallots are softened and starting to brown, about 7 minutes. Stir in the prunes and pistachios and season with salt. Discard the star anise pods.
3. Fluff the rice with a fork and discard the bay leaves. Spread the rice on a platter. Top with the pistachio-and-prune mixture and serve. May be made a few hours ahead and allowed to sit at room temp. May be served as is, or reheat for 2-3 minutes in a microwave (covered).
Per Serving: 426 Calories; 21g Fat (43.9% calories from fat); 9g Protein; 52g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 45mg Sodium.
A year ago: Chicken, Sausage and Mushroom Pot Pie
Three years ago: Marinated Grilled Provolone
which has a 1/8 inch setting. That part worked fine (although time consuming), but the really tedious part was layering the sweet potatoes. Each layer (the recipe said 9-10 and I think I made about 11) is one sweet potato slice thick. No overlapping at all. So it’s important to fill in all the little odd-ball corners. That took a little doing. Each layer is drizzled with the cream/chile mixture until the dish is nearly filled up. Then the remaining cream was poured in around the edges. There is nothing else in this except salt and pepper. No cheese. No cream sauce. Do use a casserole that’s higher-sided as the cream mixture bubbles up (and possibly over) the edges.
(not a nonstick, because I knew I needed the extra searing heat from the untreated stainless surface), heated it on my largest (highest BTU) gas burner and got the grapeseed oil smoking hot. I also turned my overhead fan up to high long before I started. The recipe calls for olive oil, but I know that grapeseed oil has a higher flash point, so I used that gladly. The carefully paper-towel dried, then salted and peppered scallops went into the hot oil and sautéed like crazy for about 2 minutes. I turned them over and did the same on the other side, and they were done. If the cooking took 4 minutes, I’d be surprised. Probably closer to 3 or 3 1/2 minutes. I tenderly pressed my spatula on each scallop to test the firmness. I could tell when they were done, but not overly done.
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