Moroccan Rice Pilaf

Submitted by Charishma_Ramchandani

"The word pilaf is enough to send me right to the dining table with a mouth that can't wait any longer to begin my meal. This is a wonderful pilaf(pulao) from the Thursday magazine dated August 10-16'06. Enjoy!"

 

• Ready In: 1hr
• Ingredients: 10
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• 1 teaspoon unsalted butter
• 1⁄2 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1⁄2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 cup white basmati rice
• 1 1⁄2 cups water or 1 1/2 cups vegetable stock
• fresh ground black pepper, to taste
• 1⁄4 cup sliced almonds
• 1⁄4 cup raisins

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Melt butter on medium-low heat in a small ovenproof pot.
3. Fold in onions and stir well.
4. Cook for 3-4 minutes until onions turn translucent but are not browned.
5. Add cumin, cayenne pepper, paprika and rice.
6. Stir well so that the rice is evenly coated with butter.
7. Cook for 3-4 minutes.
8. Stir in stock and raisins.
9. Bring to a boil on high heat.
10. Once the stock comes to a boil, cover the pot and let the pilaf cook in the oven for 18 minutes.
11. Fold in salt, pepper and almonds before fluffing with a fork and serving.
12. Enjoy!

Reviews

[MommaSabrina]

easy and delicious!! Thank you so much for sharing it was just what I was looking for!

 

[ChristineL]

Spicy, but super yummy! If I were to make this for guests who did not care for spicy food I would cut the cayenne in half. I used 1 and 3/4 cup chicken broth when I made this recipe (I always use 1 3/4 cup liquid when I cook with basmati rice and it always turns out perfect!). I also rinsed the rice thoroughly till the water was clear before adding it to the pan. Rinsing first and then toasting it in the pan prior to adding liquid really make for a more fluffy rice. I did add ~1/4 tsp cinnamon with the other spices for some warmth. I didn't have currants and instead used golden raisins. The crunch of the almonds and sweetness of the raisins really elevated the rice and made for a delicious contrast between nutty, spicy and sweet. We eat a lot of rice in our house and my husband the entire night was raving how much he loved it!

 

[JR H.]

We loved this! Keeper!

 

[emtrobstu]

This is absolutely an awesome side dish! I made this along with a Moroccan style chicken and it was a hit. I used chicken broth instead of water and did the 2:1 ratio for liquids, 2 cups liquid to 1 cup rice and it was perfectly moist, also I didn't have almonds so I used walnuts, it was still great. Easy to make! Definitely on my permanent menu!

 

[LucyS-D]

This was really good. I used ordinary parboiled white rice, and it was still tasty and spicy. I really enjoyed the sweetness of the raisins contrasted with the spicy rice.