Sunday, May 11, 2008

RECIPE ~ Rice Pilaf & Coconut Green Beans


This is a bright and colourful dish, the rice pilaf has lovely flavours and textures with the sweet raisins and crunchy cashews, matching nicely with the fresh snap of the green beans with aromatic toasted coconut. Serve as side dishes or make a meal out of it with a dahl stew, naan bread or samosas.

RICE PILAF

2 cups basmati rice (brown or white), washed
2 Tbsp sunflower oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 large carrot, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 Tbsp minced ginger
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup whole cashews or chopped almonds
3-4 cups water or broth
1 cup fresh chopped cilantro


In a medium-large pot, heat oil and add mustard seeds. When they begin to pop, stir in onion and carrot. Cook for a few minutes until the onions begin to get soft, then stir in ginger, cloves, bay leaves, turmeric, garam masala and salt. Combine well, then add rice, nuts and raisins. Add the water or broth (3 cups if using white rice, 4 cups if using brown) and stir well. Cover, bring to a boil, then simmer on low until cooked (20 minutes for white rice, 40 for brown). While rice is cooking, prepare Coconut Green Beans (recipe below).

When done, stir in a tablespoon of ghee if you like, plus 3/4 of the cilantro, then serve garnished with remaining herbs. Serves 4.

FOR INDIVIDUAL DOSHAS
VATAS a great Vata dish
PITTAS choose white basmati; replace mustard seeds with coriander seeds; omit garlic; replace carrot and onion with 1/2 a zucchini (diced) and 1 cup green peas (added with the rice); choose almonds
KAPHAS reduce oil to 1 tsp; choose almonds; omit salt


COCONUT GREEN BEANS

2 large handfuls of green beans, ends trimmed
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 Tbsp sesame seeds
2 Tbsp grated coconut (unsweetened)
sea salt and pepper to taste
juice of half a lemon
1 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro


Steam the green beans until tender crisp (slightly under-cooked). In a wok or pan, heat oil with mustard seeds. When the seeds begin to pop, add semi-cooked green beans, sesame seeds and coconut. Stir fry for several minutes until beans are done and coconut is lightly toasted, then season with salt and fresh ground pepper. Just before serving, sprinkle with the lemon juice and cilantro. Serves 2.

FOR INDIVIDUAL DOSHAS
VATAS a great Vata dish
PITTAS omit mustard seeds; use salt, pepper and lemon minimally
KAPHAS reduce the quantities of oil, sesame seeds, coconut and lemon to half; omit salt

7 comments:

Hetal said...

hey nice blog....this is a very different recipe,will try it.Would love to c u and ur comments on my blog...

ranji said...

elicous recipe..love beans with coconut..

Mansi said...

looks good!:)

Anonymous said...

You have a very nice blog. Looks very delicious.

Anonymous said...

Thanks, everyone!

Anonymous said...

I tried this and it turned out very well and was delicious ! Instead of basmati rice, I used thai jasmine and used pine nuts instead of almonds.

Just amazing, and have enough left over for tomorrows lunch. Perfect, thanks again Fran.

Anonymous said...

I made this tonight for dinner, too--it is absolutely AMAZING! Thanks so much for sharing and for bringing so much love into my kitchen!