Peshawari Rice
This Peshawari rice is made with long-grain rice that is soaked and thoroughly washed, then cooked with softened onion, ground ginger and garlic, and whole spices such as loomi, bay leaves, cumin, cloves, cardamom, and cinnamon. The key to its flavor is adding milk along with chicken stock, then finishing it over very low heat under foil until the rice steams and becomes fluffy. Raisins are added at the end, and garnishing with nuts and chicken is optional.
A seasoned rice dish in the Peshawar style.
Like fragrant spiced rice.
This is a rice-based side or main dish with warm spices.
Ingredients
- 5 cups (920 g) long-grain rice
- 1 medium onion
- raisins
- ginger
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1 piece loomi (dried lime)
- bay leaves
- coarse cumin
- 5 cloves
- cardamom
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 5¼ cups chicken stock
- 1 cup milk
- Mazola oil
- almonds
- pine nuts
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 2 tablespoons animal ghee
- 2 chilies green chilies
- instead of chicken stock if the dish is made with meat meat stock
- olive oil
Instructions
- Soak the rice in a bowl of cold water for 1 hour to 1¼ hours, then wash it in the same bowl four or five times, until the wash water runs clear.
- Grind the ginger and garlic in a blender or grinder with a little of the cup of milk designated for the recipe, to make grinding easier.
- Heat the frying pan over the heat, then add the oil to the pan and fry the coarsely chopped onion with a pinch of salt until softened, without allowing it to caramelize.
- Add the spices to the pan: bay leaves, loomi cut in half, coarse cumin, cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom; then stir them with the onion.
- Add the green chilies to the pan if desired, then add the ginger and garlic mixture to the pan.
- Add the chicken stock to the pot; if meat is used, add meat stock instead. Then add the milk to the pot.
- Leave the liquid in the pot until it comes to a gentle boil, then add the soaked, drained rice to the pot.
- Add the salt to the pot, then cook the contents over high heat with the pot covered until most of the liquid has dried up.
- Reduce the heat under the pot to the lowest setting, then cover the pot with aluminum foil and leave the rice for about 10 to 15 minutes, until it finishes cooking through steam.
- Add the animal ghee to the pot after the liquid has dried up; if unavailable, use a plant-based substitute, according to the chef.
- Add the raisins over the rice in the pot at the end, then cover the pot again so the raisins steam; do not fry them.
- Arrange the rice on a serving platter, then add grilled or boiled chicken that has been browned beforehand. Add toasted nuts if used, then serve hot.