Recipe Description
This dish is a cross between a fried rice and a briyani. This recipe is taken from the Don’t Call Me Chef column, entitled “Something for the weekend” on the theme of Sunday lunch.
Recipe Ingredient
- For the spice blend:
- 1 tsp clove
- 3 bay leaves (fresh or dry)
- 4 green cardamom pods (seeds only)
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- 1 tbsp ground nutmeg
- 1 stick cinnamon
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 cup rice, washed
- 1cm ginger, minced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 250g spinach, de-stemmed, washed and roughly chopped
- 1 tomato, cubed
- 1 red onion, sliced
- 2 green chillies, sliced
- 4 tbsp ghee
- 1 tsp cumin
- For garnish:
- 1 red onion, thinly sliced
- 3 tbsp plain flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Roast the clove, bay leaves, cardamom seeds, peppercorns, cinnamon and nutmeg in a hot skillet and raost it over a low to medium for about five minutes or until nicely toasted.
- Grind the spices (in a spice grinder or pestle and mortar) until fine.
- Add 2 tbsp pf water and mix until you get a thick paste.
- Set aside.
- Using a chopper or a pestle and mortar, combine the ginger and garlic to a paste.
- Heat a saucepan with 1 tbsp ghee.
- When hot, add the washed rice and toast for 2-3 mins, making sure to coat all the rice with the ghee.
- Set aside.
- Heat 1 tbsp ghee and add the onions and garlic-ginger paste and cook until the onions start to brown.
- Add the tomatoes and chillies and stir together.
- Add the spinach and when it starts to wilt, add the spice paste.
- Stir to incorporate the paste with the rest of ingredients.
- Season with salt and turn off the heat.
- Put the rice, the spinach mixture and 2 cups water in the rice cooker and cook.
- As the rice is cooking, whisk the flour and salt together to coat the slice onions.
- Gently toss the onions in the flour.
- Heat a wok of hot and when hot enough, fry the onions and crispy brown.
- Serve the spinach rice with the onions on top and, if you like, some roasted cashews too. A perfect accompaniment? Yoghurt.
