Yellow Rice Recipe (With Turmeric)
A fragrant, flavorful yellow rice with a golden hue for your holiday feasting table or for a Middle Eastern kick to your everyday white rice. Garnished with toasted pine nuts and raisins for a nutty flavor and a bit of sweetness.
Servings: 5 servings
Calories: 179.5kcal
Ingredients
- 1 cup (185g) Basmati rice soaked in enough cold water with a pinch of salt for 15 minutes. Note1
- 1 ½ liter tap water. 6 cups water.
- 1 Tablespoon oil.
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric.
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper.
- 1 Tablespoon ghee or butter. Note2
- 1 (90g) small onion.
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste.
- ¼ cup hot boiling water.
Spices: Use any combination available (Note3)
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom.
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves.
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon.
Garnish with:
- Roasted nuts, raisins and fresh parsley
Instructions
- Drain rice and set aside.
- In a pot, over medium heat pour the tap water and bring to a rapid boil.
- Add turmeric, oil, spices you are using then rice.
- let it cook for another 6-7 minutes then drain rice.
- In the same pot add ghee then sauté onion for 2 minutes until it turns light yellow.
- Add rice back, salt and the boiling water.
- Reduce heat to minimum, cover the pot with a paper kitchen towel then put the lid on. Note4
- Keep on cooking for another 10-15 minutes until the rice is cooked.
Video
Notes
- Washing and soaking Basmati rice is essential for this method of cooking.
- Soaking time differs between brands so read the label first, if not sure then soak for 10 minutes.
- Some like adding garlic powder, minced garlic clove or diced green bell pepper to the onion so you might try that as well.
- Use any or a combination of the spices above it all adds up to authentic flavorful rice but if you do not have any of the spices you will still have tasty fragrant rice.
- Turmeric powder is a key ingredient so be sure to at least have that.
- Other spices used may contain cumin, oreganoو a couple strands of saffron and fennel seeds.
- Please watch out and be very careful using this technique as the paper towel might catch fire if not properly watched.
- While using ghee gives this rice authenticity and aroma, you can use butter or use olive oil if you are making it vegan.
- Serve With:
- This kind of rice pairs well with so many meals like these lamb koftas, kabobs, chicken kabobs, shish tawook or roasted vegetables.
- Leftover and storage:
- Cooled leftover can be put in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Please note that frozen rice tend to break a bit but it will not affect the taste.
- To reheat: place rice in a pot with a couple of tablespoons of water and reheat thoroughly on medium-low.
Nutrition
Calories: 179.5kcal | Carbohydrates: 30.1g | Protein: 2.7g | Fat: 5.6g | Cholesterol: 6mg | Sodium: 58.4mg | Potassium: 43.4mg | Sugar: 0.8g | Vitamin A: 0.8IU | Vitamin C: 2.4mg | Calcium: 0.7mg | Iron: 1.7mg