Pilaf, pilau or ‘seasoned rice’
A pilaf or pilau (or ‘seasoned rice’ as my Mum calls it) is made by first coating rice with oil or fat before cooking it with seasonings and / or added ingredients.
As an example, here's a recipe for a ‘seasoned rice’ with prawns, fish and peas (serves 4 people as a main course).
Ingredients
- 2 mugs of white basmati or long grain rice
- 2 large onions, in fine dice
- vegetable, fish or chicken stock (or stock cube)
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- 9 fennel seeds
- 1 tsp hot sauce, e.g. Encona
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ glass white wine or vermouth
- ½ glass olive oil
- 4 mugs of water (i.e. twice the quantity of rice)
- 200g white fish, defrosted, in large dice
- 150g prawns, defrosted
- 100g frozen peas
Method
- sweat the diced onion in the olive oil for 10 mins until soft
- add the rice and ensure well coated with oil
- add the seasonings (paprika, fennel, hot sauce, bay leaf)
- add the stock and wine and water (dissolving the stock cube if using one)
- bring to the boil, then cover with a tight-fitting lid and turn down to minimum
- wait 20 mins (25 mins if using long-grain rice) without removing the lid
- add the fish, prawns and peas and add salt to taste. Replace lid.
- wait 5 mins
- test that fish is cooked, then serve