Recipe adapted from Classic Indian Cooking by Julie Sahni
A light, golden rice that is lightly flavored by cumin & turmeric. Best served with homemade falafel, cucumber/yogurt salad, hummus or tzatziki sauce.
3 medium sized potatoes
1 1/2 cups basmati or jasmine rice
4 Tbsp. light canola oil
1 teas. cumin seeds
3/4 teas. turmeric
2 teas. salt (or to taste)
1. Peel potatoes and dice into 1/2 inch pieces. Put them in a bowl, cover with cold water & set aside.
2. Wash basmati rice. Fill big bowl with rice and cold water. Rinse, swirl rice/water with fingers for a few seconds & drain water. Repeat this step 8 times.
3. On 8th rinse, add 3 cups of cold water into bowl with rice. Let soak for 30 minutes, drain rice & reserve the 3 cups of water.
4. Heat oil over medium-high heat in a pan. When it's hot, add cumin seeds. When cumin turns dark brown (15 seconds), add the potatoes & turmeric & fry potatoes until slightly browned.
5. Add the rice and continue cooking until rice is slightly fried, stirring constantly to prevent burning. Add the reserved water & salt.
6. Stir to mix all ingredients & bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low & simmer. Cover for 15 minutes (or until most of the water is absorbed & the surface of rice is full of steamy holes.
7. Keep cover on the pan, remove rice from heat & let steam for 15 minutes. Do not stir the rice during these last 15 minutes. The rice grains will be soaking up the spice flavors.
8. After 15 minutes, uncover & fluff rice with fork.
Enjoy!