Restaurant-style Pilau rice

[James]

I am probably going to get shot down here, but can anyone tell me how to
make restaurant-style pilau rice (well, that's what they call the
red/yellow/green and white stuff in the restaurants round here)? I've tried
all the absorption/boiling recipes I can lay my hands on and all that I get
is the equivalent of the restaurants' boiled rice.

What I'm after making is basically the same length/width as the basmati rice
going in. The closest I've come is using the Curry Secret's method, but this
still isn't quite there. Do they use the boil/absorption method and then
leave it to dry for days/weeks to get most of the moisture out?

Thanks in advance for any info.

[Steph Peters]

Post by James
I am probably going to get shot down here, but can anyone tell me how to
make restaurant-style pilau rice (well, that's what they call the
red/yellow/green and white stuff in the restaurants round here)? I've tried
all the absorption/boiling recipes I can lay my hands on and all that I get
is the equivalent of the restaurants' boiled rice.
What I'm after making is basically the same length/width as the basmati rice
going in. The closest I've come is using the Curry Secret's method, but this
still isn't quite there. Do they use the boil/absorption method and then
leave it to dry for days/weeks to get most of the moisture out?
Thanks in advance for any info.

Can't help on the colouring aspect. However the spiced rice dishes that
I've made all tasted far more reminiscent of the restaurant versions when
eating the leftovers the next day (can we skip the posts on how dangerous
this is please, I know, but I'm not going to stop doing it). My judgment is
that cooling and reheating is part of the flavour.

--
The murals in restaurants are on a par with the food in museums. Peter De Vries
Steph Peters, Manchester, England
email: delete invalid from ***@sandbenders.demon.co.uk.invalid

[Darkginger]

Post by James
I am probably going to get shot down here, but can anyone tell me how to
make restaurant-style pilau rice (well, that's what they call the
red/yellow/green and white stuff in the restaurants round here)? I've tried
all the absorption/boiling recipes I can lay my hands on and all that I get
is the equivalent of the restaurants' boiled rice.
What I'm after making is basically the same length/width as the basmati rice
going in. The closest I've come is using the Curry Secret's method, but this
still isn't quite there. Do they use the boil/absorption method and then
leave it to dry for days/weeks to get most of the moisture out?

So, you're asking how to colour the rice, not how to make it taste like
Pilau Rice does in restaurants?

(If it were the latter I would blaspheme and suggest that the Schwartz Pilau
Rice mix is as good as anything else I've tried - you just add a sprinkle of
it to the water you're cooking the rice in, and then colour it as follows)

Well, the way I do it is not by the absorption method - I boil basmati rice
in a huge quantity of water until it's done to my liking, drain in a sieve,
wash in cold water, wash again in boiling water, plop into an ovenproof
dish, do the 'cross thing' described in the curry secret (for those who
don't have the book, basically you run a line of colour one way across your
dish, and then another the opposite way, then allow it to dry before
mixing)with red and yellow food colouring (I don't use green, irrelevant but
true), then put the rice into a cool oven for around 20 minutes, until it's
dried out but not gone hard on top. Fluff with a fork to mix the colours,
and that's it.

Hope that helps - not sure I quite understood your question, but it's been a
long day...

Jo


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