Sometimes I crave a simple warm homely rice dish but don’t want a heavy protein meal. And the desi in my needs a bit of heat…once in a while. And if I am to let carbs past my lips the food best be worth it….and this dish is worth it.

This rice dish is awesome with pretty much any curry and I love it with tarka daal, coriander and lemon potato curry..everything.

It’s a simple straight forward dish…and doesn’t call for millions of new ingredients.

To serve 4 (or six…) you’ll need:

Ingredients:
250 grams of basmati rice (once you weigh out the rice you’ll need to work out their measurement in volume. Place the rice in a glass and write it down. You then double that amount to work out how much liquid you need to cook the rice. So I and a half glasses of uncooked rice will require 3 glasses of water to cook using the method I used below).

3 tbsp oil (I use rapeseed oil)
2 large onions sliced thinly
1 TBSP salt
1.5 tbsp cumin seeds
1 heaped tbsp garam masala
1 heaped tbsp crushed coriander seed powder
Stock or water to cook the rice (to keep the dish veggie friendly just use water or vegetable stock)
1 dried red chili
1 piece of cassia bark
3 medium green chilies-pricked with a folk to avoid them exploding (optional)

1) wash the rice and set aside. Yes we desi folk wash our rice before we cook it.
2) Take a large pot and heat it up over a medium heat. Add the oil.
3) Add the sliced onion and fry until golden brown (not dark brown and don’t burn the onions you’ll be able to taste it!).
4) Add the cumin seeds, chili and cassia bark (and green chilies if using) and fry for 2 minutes (you’ll be able to smell the cumin).
NOTE: if you find the onions are becoming ‘sticky’ or clumpy add 2 tbsp of water.
5) Add the salt, garam masala, crushed coriander.Fry for a further two minutes. Decrease the heat if you feel the mixture may burn.
6) Now add the rice. Stir to coat in the onion mixture. Add the stock or water (you need to sum earlier to figure out how much you needed).
7) Bring the rice to the boil. Then reduce the heat. The rice will need around 12-18 minutes to cook. Stir occasionally to stop the rice from sticking to the bottom. Alternatively if you do have access to one use a flame diffuser to help reduce the chances of rice sticking to the bottom of the pan.
Tip: I use a pan with a glass lid so I can keep an eye on it. That way if I see the water evaporating I can stir the rice and reduce heat further if required.
8) Once the rice is done (I usually take a few strands and taste them….) turn the heat off. To avoid over cooking the rice remove the lid.
9) Serve!

To serve this dish as is you can add a dollop of yogurt or a simple raita. Job done!