Well since my modified turmeric revelation during the lemony tea cake recipe, I figured, why not keep testing my theory. This rice recipe affirmed that turmeric is nice when it isn’t the only thing you taste. The rice’s flavor is actually dominated by the toasted almond and butter flavors, more than anything else. Which means it can go really well with all sorts of other dishes.
Let’s elaborate. Step one is to cook some rice. This recipe calls for jasmine or basmati rice. Over the last few years, I’ve become accustomed to substituting white rice for brown rice (health benefits, yada yada). But when I refer back to the rules, I’m reminded that I committed to maintaining the integrity of these recipes, which means no ingredient swapping unless totally necessary. Thus, I bought my first bag of jasmine rice in at least 3 years.
I had forgotten how light and fluffy jasmine rice can be. And how much more quickly it cooks than brown rice! It only took 12 minutes to make 3 cups of rice. Once the rice is done, just set it aside.
Meanwhile, it’s time to toast some chopped almonds in butter. I chopped my nuts by hand, mostly because I only had whole almonds, and I do like the texture of a roughly chopped nut (so many fun angles!). However, it should be noted that I will never be one to look down upon the purchase of pre-sliced or pre-chopped nuts. In fact, I grew up on a steady diet of kale and lemon salads topped with blanched slivered almonds. There are some days when I just don’t want to chop my own nuts. If you’re like me, then I say, “no shame!”
After the nuts are toasty and the butter is browned, the nuts are removed and set aside with the rice, and the butter gets left behind. Thinly sliced shallots and turmeric take a dive into the butter and become soft and fragrant. Just a few minutes of cooking and you’re ready to plop the rice back into the skillet on top of the shallots and turmeric.
This is the point where crispiness happens in front of your very eyes. Except you can’t actually see it get crispy because after the rice is pressed down into the skillet, you just have to leave it there and let the pan do the magic. Good thing I learned that “Believing isn’t seeing” from Judy the Elf in “The Santa Clause” movie with Tim Allen. Believe, though you do not see, that the rice is getting crunchier over the instructed span of 8-10 minutes over medium heat. FYI, at one point, I did lift up a corner of rice to check its progress (Alison says you can!) and realized that the pan needed to be rotated a bit for even crisping.
Once the rice was crisped to my heart’s content, I plated it and topped it with the toasted almonds and a bunch of herbs. The texture was really fun and the flavor was subtle. I’d say keep the subtleness if you’re serving it with something else that’s loud and in your face. But if you want the rice to stand out more, don’t be afraid to maybe add a bit of coriander, possibly more salt, and definitely more black pepper.
45 recipes cooked, 180 to go.
