Thursday, May 29, 2008

Brown Rice (Rosematta) with Chicken and Pumpkin



My attempts to incorporate rosematta into our meals continue......the rice dishes have gone down well so far and the latest dish I put together had chicken and pumpkin in it.

Made for a lunch at my place for a few friends and their kids, it was a nice summer dish paired with Lobia Saag(cowpeas and spinach), fresh cucumber and tomato salad, raw mango chutney and a crustless spinach and feta cheese quiche - fusion food at its best I guess!

This what I have learnt about cooking with rosematta.

1. Soaking for about an hour or so helps the plump grains to absorb moisture, swell and cook faster.
2. One cup of rice requires about three to four cups of water/liquid to cook.
3. Using vegetable or chicken stock or even stock cubes greatly enhances the flavour if you are cooking it as a one pot dish.
4. Cooking the vegetables along with the rice makes the dish very flavourful.

Next time I am going to try making idlis using rosematta rice.

So what has your experience been with cooking rosematta rice? and do you have any special recipes or tips you would like to share?

Brown Rice (Rosematta) with Chicken and Pumpkin


Ingredients:

Brown rice - 2 cups
Vegetable stock (I used two stock cubes dissolved in 1 litre of water)
White wine - 1 cup (optional, add one more cup of water to the vegetable stock if you omit this)
Boneless chicken cut into strips - 1 cup
Pumpkin - peeled and chopped - 1 cup
Onions -1 big sliced finely
Garlic - 3 cloves chopped
Cinnamon stick - 1 " piece
Bay leaf - 1
Cloves - 2
Oil - 1 tbsp
salt to taste
Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp

Method:

1. Wash and soak rosematta rice in water for an hour.
2. Heat up the vegetable stock and keep aside; heat it up a bit later, if necessary.
3. Take a large non stick pan, heat the oil and add the cloves, cinnamon and bay leaf. Saute 1 minute then add the onions and fry till it is golden brown.
4. Add the chicken pieces and fry on high heat for two minutes till it gets seared on both sides and cooks a bit. Sprinkle chilli powder, lower heat and cook for 5 minutes.
5. Add the white wine, drain the soaked rice and add it to the pan. Saute for 3 minutes.
6. Add half the hot stock to the rice and cook for about 8 minutes, then add the pumpkin pieces, the remaining hot stock and salt to taste and cook further for 10 minutes or till the water is absorbed and the rice is tender.
7. If you think the rice needs more cooking, add hot water or vegetable stock half a cup at a time.
8. Serve hot.

4 comments:

Finla said...

I don't remember the last time i ate this ricen when i was back at home we always had this.
Here we just get normal rice

Laavanya said...

I pressure cook rosematta rice with water in the ratio 1:2 and it comes out pretty well.
I also got good results using it to make idlis though I haven't made it with just rosematta rice.. it's usuall idli rice: rosematta rice in the ratio 2:1

SAJITHA said...

try kabsa, it tastes pretty nice with this variety.
something like this
splutter whole spices(elaichi,cinnamon,bayleaf,dried lime,cloves,,peppercorn)
saute 1 onion,a lil ginger garlic,and a carton of tomato paste(not puree)
thrown in a kilo of chicken,chicken stock cube and a carrot and a tomato.cooktill chicken is done .add required amt of water to cook rice and bung it in the pot as well..cover and cook or u can alternatively cook the rice till almost done and then mix it with the chicken and let the flavours mix for a while..voila..kabsa

Miri said...

Hey thanks Sajitha!, that sounds pretty interesting!