What do you usually serve with a big protein meal? Perhaps steamed or roasted veggies? What about something for carbs? Instead of the usual potatoes, let's try this basmati rice with a little aroma boost.
Cilantro and lime basmati rice -
Ingredients (about 5 portions)?
- 2 measuring cups basmati rice
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 lime or lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons lime or lemon juice
- 1 big bundle cilantro
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups water
How?
Peel and fine chop the garlic cloves. Fine chop the cilantro, including the stems. Aim for about a total of 1 cup chopped cilantro leaves and stems. Zest the lime or lemon first then squeeze the juice after.
Take a large pot, drizzle about 2 tablespoons of olive oil to evenly coat the bottom. Turn to medium high heat. Once the oil warms up, add in basmati rice and give it a few stir to evenly coat each grain with oil. The grains will turn solid white color in the beginning then starts to brown soon after. Continue to cook the rice till slightly browned.
Add in chopped garlic. Stir and cook for another minute.
Pour in 3 cups of water along with 1 teaspoon of salt and all the lime/lemon zest. Bring the whole thing to a boil then lower the heat. Cover with lid and let it cook for about 15 minutes.
Remove the pot from heat but still remain covered. Let it rest for another 10 minutes. Once ready, remove the lid and fluff the rice with a fork.
Mix in half of the lime or lemon juice along with all the chopped cilantro. Fluff and gently blend the basmati rice with these two ingredients. Taste and see if sour enough for your taste, pour in the other half of lime or lemon juice if needed. Fluff till incorporated then serve while still warm.
I especially love having cilantro and lime basmati rice alongside some grilled meat. That tiny touch of citrusy aroma does a good job balancing off the fats and grease from the meat. On top of that, I simply enjoy having my protein with rice.
In fact, for this batch of cilantro and lime rice, I seared up some steak and serve the rice as one full combo.
By the way, once you put on the lid when cooking the rice, please, please do resist any curiosity and not to take a peek inside, otherwise the heat will escape and I can't guarantee what would happen to the final result in the end. Just have some faith and treat it like a surprise in the end. It'll be good as long as you followed the amount of ingredients listed.
Other rice recipes:
- Sweet potato congee 地瓜粥
- Savory Taiwanese congee 台式鹹粥
- Tomato eggs and ground pork rice 番茄蛋蓋飯
- Bitter tea oil fried rice 苦茶油炒飯
- Salmon and egg donburi
- Smoked duck pistou fried rice
No comments:
Post a Comment