How to make a Swahili dish with rice as the main ingredient: Pilau Recipe
After a long day, almost everyone looks forward to eating a good and tasty balanced diet meal. Rice is one of the simplest starchy foods one can make. It can be made using many recipes and procedures mainly because rice can be prepared to cook many meals with it as the main ingredient. Most people appreciate and prefer rice as a starch in their meals because it is light, easy to prepare and eat, and can accompany almost any type of stew or salad. Some of the ways that rice can be prepared include; boil, steam, fry and bake. In most countries, rice is found in only two colors, white or brown, with long or short grains.
Some of the most popular Swahili dishes are made from rice, some of these include: ‘pilau’, ‘biriani’, ‘wali wa nazi’ (coconut rice), among others. Today I want to teach you how to make ‘pilau’!
Ingredients
2 cups of rice
cooking oil/butter
Tomato paste
Cinnamon
cardamom pods
teaspoon of salt
Cumin seeds
ginger
Garlic clove
Diced minced meat
Onions
How to prepare the ‘pilau’
Prepare the garlic and ginger by crushing them to the extent that is satisfactory to you. Boil the minced meat in the pot; let it cook until all the water dries up. Chop the onions and add them to the buttered pot and cook until golden brown. Add the crushed garlic and ginger and let it cook for a few minutes, then add the other spices; that is, cardamom pods, cinnamon and cumin seeds.
To the mixture, add the boiled meat and tomato paste and let it cook for 10-15 minutes. Add rice and a pinch of salt and stir gently then add water (measure water in a 1:2 ratio, ie 1 cup of rice to two cups of water). Cover the pot and let it boil until all the water evaporates and the rice is done. The resulting appearance should be brown with a sweet fragrance. Serve while hot with any salad dressing or casserole of your choice.
A good, well-prepared meal is all it takes to satisfy your audience, be it family, friends or colleagues. ‘Pilau’ can be a great addition to your personal or family menu that is guaranteed to please and satisfy every time.