Spiced Rice with Dried Lime


An Indian style rice usually eaten with grilled meat and/or chutney


Recipe Posted on 2nd July, 2005
Recipe Source: I got this recipe from an Indian cook in the kitchen of Rig 10 in Oman. My Indian collegue James tells me that in India this type of rice is typically eaten when travelling - it's the Indian equivelent of a packed lunch. He says it's often eaten with a little something on the side, like chutney or grilled meat, but it's also very good on its own. In Oman it's served for both lunches and dinners, and often with grilled fish, chicken, meat, or a vegetable curry. I couldn't get any quantities for the recipe, but I'll work those out next time I'm at home. For now the recipe's just a method.

Serves: How ever many you want!

Ingredients
Basmati rice (use about ½ cup of rice per person)
Cummin seeds
Cardamom pods, bruised (place them on a bench and squash them a little by putting something flat over each one and leaning your body weight on it)
Cinnamon stick
Cloves
Onion, peeled and chopped
Ghee (Indian clarified butter) or oil (ghee is much tastier in this recipe)
Dried limes - either poke holes in them, or tear them in half
Salt

Method
Measure out the amount of dry rice you need and soak it in fresh water for about one hour before you use it.

In a large pot, gently fry the onion, cummin seeds, cardamom pods, cinnamon stick and cloves in a generous spoon of ghee (or oil). Fry these gently and stir often until the onion is golden. At the same time, bring a pot of salted water to the boil.

When the onion is golden, pour in enough salted water for the amount of rice you are using - you will need one cup of boiling salted water for every one cup of dry rice used. Add the dried lime to the pot. Drain the rice and discard the soaking water. Add the rice to the pot of onions, spices and boiling water. When it comes back to the boil, put a tight fitting lid on, turn the heat down to very low and leave it to cook very slowly for 15 minutes. After this, take it off the heat and leave it to stand with the lid still on for 5 minutes before serving.