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Spiced Basmati Rice and Sweet Corn Pilaf
![Spiced Basmati Rice and Sweet Corn Pilaf](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/02/06/dining/basmati/basmati-articleLarge.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
- Total Time
- 1 hour
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 2cups Basmati rice
- 4tablespoons unsalted butter or ghee
- 2teaspoons minced garlic
- 1tablespoon grated ginger
- ½teaspoon turmeric
- Pinch saffron
- ½teaspoon coriander seeds
- ½teaspoon cumin seeds
- 8whole cloves
- ½teaspoon black peppercorns
- 2cardamom pods
- 1large onion, diced (about 2 cups)
- 3cups fresh corn kernels (about 6 ears corn)
- Salt
- 1cup golden raisins
- 2cups chicken broth or water
- 2tablespoons chopped cilantro
- 2tablespoons chopped scallions
- ¼cup roasted cashews (optional)
- Yogurt raita (see recipe)
Preparation
- Step 1
Put rice in a medium bowl and cover with cold water. Swish with fingers, then pour off water. Repeat 2 or 3 times, until water runs clear. Cover again with cold water and soak 20 minutes, then drain.
- Step 2
Melt 2 tablespoons butter or ghee in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Add garlic, ginger, turmeric, saffron, coriander, cumin, cloves, peppercorns and cardamom, and stir to coat. Let sizzle a bit, then add onion and cook, stirring, until softened and beginning to color, about 5 minutes. Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter or ghee, the rice and the corn, and season with ½ teaspoon salt. Cook for 1 minute. Add raisins and 2 cups broth or water and bring to brisk simmer. Taste cooking liquid for salt and adjust if necessary.
- Step 3
Cover with tight-fitting lid, turn heat to low and let cook 15 minutes. Let rest 10 to 15 minutes off heat. Fluff rice and transfer to serving bowl. Sprinkle with cilantro, scallions and cashews, if desired. Serve with yogurt raita.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
I made this just as written. There was too much corn, and it seemed out of balance. I think it would be good even without any corn, however.
This dish was great. An innovative use of sweet corn while capturing the spirit of biryani. Unfortunately, the linked raita in the recipe is not the one that was cited in the original article. Try the proper raita - it makes the dish even better. https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1014947-yogurt-raita-with-chile-and-...
Just leaving it out would be the most obvious option. I'd probably substitute 2c small-diced winter squash or sweet potatoes to cook along with the rice or throw in frozen peas before the rest step. Chopped sweet red pepper would be nice.
I wonder if I can successfully make this ahead up through step 2? I would reheat and finish at step 3.
I really wanted to like this. The ingredients sound amazing and especially with the garnishes. But it came out kind of confusing, the raisins feeling out of place, like they got lost on the way to a couscous, and the clove and cardamom bits adding a bitter surprise. I'm not sure this would be better than a simple basmati pilaf in any situation.
Start with whole spices to flavor fat, then add onion and then powders/garlic/ginger, which can burn. Coriander seed must be ground. Black or green cardamom? One black is plenty. Corn and raisins are both excessive, they should stud the rice. Cut back on both and keep rice/water ratio the same.
Made half the recipe. Eliminated corn. Eliminated turmeric which stains my white kitchen. Great flavor. Could use some heat too. Served with musshakan chicken. Great combo!
Very tasty. The whole spice seeds for me were a bit overwhelming in many bites, though, so I personally would either use ground spices or toast the seeds/pods and then crush or grind them before adding the other ingredients. Toasted pine nuts instead of cashews and cut dried apricot added after the rice had cooked halfway instead of raisins both worked well. I agree that about half the amount of corn would provide a better balance.
Delicious! Made with quinoa instead of rice. Fragrant and a wonderful accompaniment to our vegan curry.
I made this according to the recipe, but my kid doesn’t like whole spices in his rice. So next time I’ll use ground black pepper, cardamom and cloves instead, and cut the amounts in half since they’ll be stronger that way.
Great dish! So much flavor what a treat! I spent some time frying the rice before adding the corn and stock. Kind of like i do for Spanish rice. The flavors were wonderful. And the raita too. A good potluck dish for sure. I halved the recipe and used 1 large ear of corn.
Delicious! Made this with frozen peas, instead of corn. Added the peas at the resting stage.
I found this recipe while looking for a Mexican rice recipe, and it actually worked perfectly with some substitutions. I used "Mexican" ingredients instead of some the Indian ones when it made sense-i.e., smoked paprika instead of turmeric, Mexican oregano instead of the cardamom, cinnamon instead of cloves, sun-dried tomatoes instead of the raisins, pepitas instead of cashews. I will definitely try the original recipe too, but the pilaf texture was way better than soggy Mexican rice!
For me the addition of a really good quality rice, chicken stock and saffron elevates the experience of a good pilaf substantially. The added spices and chunky bits are valuable riffs on the baseline flavour/texture.
I would like to make this WITHOUT the corn; would I need to otherwise alter the recipe? Any suggestions welcome...
Just leaving it out would be the most obvious option. I'd probably substitute 2c small-diced winter squash or sweet potatoes to cook along with the rice or throw in frozen peas before the rest step. Chopped sweet red pepper would be nice.
This dish was great. An innovative use of sweet corn while capturing the spirit of biryani. Unfortunately, the linked raita in the recipe is not the one that was cited in the original article. Try the proper raita - it makes the dish even better. https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1014947-yogurt-raita-with-chile-and-...
Very nice flavors. My only problem with the dish is that the peppercorns, cloves, and cardamon are left whole when you serve it. Should they come out or be squashed at at certain point? I served this dish as a side to a rack of lamb and did not make the raita. I liked the lightness of the rice and corn.
I made this just as written. There was too much corn, and it seemed out of balance. I think it would be good even without any corn, however.
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