Iranian Wedding Rice
Delicious fragrant, fruity rice dish.It looks beautiful, it tastes even better.Flavoursome enough to stand alone as a main, but also serves as a beautiful side dish to curries, roasts, BBQ'd meats or vegetables
Ingredients
- 2 cups basmati rice
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 3 onions – finely sliced
- 4 cloves garlic – minced
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 2 cinnamon quills
- 4-6 cardamom pods
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 1/2 cup dried apricots chopped
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup currants
- 3 cups water or vegetable or chicken stock
- 1/2 cup flaked almonds, toasted
- Zest of 1 orange
- 1/4 cup fresh mint – chopped
- Arils (seeds) of one pomegranate
Instructions
- Rinse the basmati rice under cold water until the water runs clear
- Soak the rice in cold water for 30 minutes, then drain. Leave sitting in a sieve to dry out a bit.
- In a large pot, heat the vegetable oil over medium heat.
- Add the chopped onion and cook until softened and golden brown, about 5-7 minutes.
- Add the minced garlic and cook for another 1-2 minutes until fragrant.
- Stir in the spices. Cook for 1 minute to release the flavours.
- Add the drained rice to the pot and stir to coat the rice with the spices and oil.
- Pour in the stock/water
- Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until the rice is tender and the liquid is absorbed.
- While the rice is cooking, in a small frypan or saucepan, toast the almonds, keep an eye on them so they don’t burn. Remove just before you think they are ready (they will toast up a bit more as they cool.)
- In that same pan gently toast the chopped apricots, dried cranberries, and currants for a few minutes until they are slightly plump.
- Once the rice is cooked, remove it from the heat and let it sit, covered, for 10 minutes.
- Fluff the rice with a fork.
- Gently fold in the toasted dried fruits, slivered almonds, and orange zest.