Cooking Fluffy Basmati Rice (Chelo) پلو

(Original recipe makes 4 servings)

Ingredients:

2 cups basmati rice
2 tablespoons salt
5 1/2 cups water
2/1/2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 medium russet potatoes

Directions:

Add water to a non-stick pot, cover, and put it on the high heat to bring the water to a boil.
Measure your rice with a standard measurement cup, or the cup that has come with your rice cooker (if you have any rice cooker at home), and put rice in a medium bowl.
Wash the rice once or twice (not more than that because the rice will break down easily during the cooking.
When the water start boiling, add salt, dump rice inside the boiling water. Cover, and allow the water start boiling again.

If the bubbles of water start to come up to the edge of the pot, lift the lid and cover the pot half way. It will take almost 8 minutes that rice cooks and become tender. Use a kitchen turner or a wooden spoon and scoop the rice from the bottom and bring it to the surface of the boiling water. Repeat it 2 to 3 time during the cooking. (It helps all the rice that are stuck together become unstuck).

Place a sieve or a colander with small holes in the sink. After 7-8 minutes of cooking, drain rice in sieve or colander. Pour some tepid water on the rice to wash off all the extra salt.
Peels the potatoes and chop them to not very thick slices.

Bring back the empty pot to the stove. Add 2-3 tablespoons vegetable oil or olive oil. When the oil becomes warm enough, sprinkle a pinch of salt over the oil, place the potatoes in the bottom of the pot, gradually, pour rice on the top of the potatoes.

 

Use a kitchen tuner or wooden spoon to gather rice almost in the center of the pot (to form a mound). Use the handle of the wooden spoon or turner to make 3 to 4 holes inside the rice (these holes help the steams comes up easily and cook the rice perfectly).


Then, wrap the lid of the pot in a piece of very clean kitchen towel, or tea towel (the fabric helps to captures moisture from the rising steam and don’t let the steam go back to the pot to make your rice mushy).

Reduce the heat to medium-low and let the rice cook for 30-40 minutes, or until the potatoes become very golden crispy.

My Notes:

• Depend on how much rice you are using to cook, the time of cooking will be different. But always using this small trick will help you to understand when your rice is cooked perfectly. Splash some water with your fingers on the outside wall of the pot. If the water drops evaporate in 2 seconds, means your rice is ready. Otherwise, it has to be over the heat for a longer period of time. 

• When you’re serving the rice, and notice that the potatoes are not golden or crispy enough, serve the rice first, and put the pot on medium-high heat for 1-2 minutes to make the potatoes crispier (be careful not to burn them). 
• I don’t add any oil to my rice. But some people love to have rice with butter, margarine or shortening. If you like to eat your rice with butter, cut down the butter to small pieces and pot it on the top of rice, 5 to 10 minutes before turning off the heat. It has an enough time for the butter to melt down. 
• Never add vegetable oil to your rice. They don’t stay on the top of the rice and goes straight to the bottom of the pot which you always end up with dry rice on the top and greasy rice in the bottom of the rice. 
• If you don’t like to add potatoes to your rice, you can also substitute it with some thin flatbread like pita bread. The result of the crispy bread will be as good as crispy potatoes. 
• If you don’t like to pot neither potatoes nor bread on the bottom of the rice, it is fine. You can add just some oil to the pot and add rice directly to the pot without adding any potatoes or bread. 

Stuffed Bell Peppers

Ingredients:

6 big bell peppers (or 8-9 medium bell peppers)

1 big onion, finely chopped

Olive oil

½ cup rice

½ cup yellow split peas

½cup fine bulgur

¼ cup parsley, finely chopped

1 tbsp. dried mint

1 tbsp. dried tarragon

1 tbsp. dried summer savory

1 tbsp. tomato paste

1 tsp. ground turmeric

Salt and pepper

For the sauce:

4 tbsp. fried onion

2 tbsp. tomato sauce

½ tsp turmeric

Salt, pepper

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 tbsp. fresh lemon juice

2 ½ cups water

Directions:

Add 2-3 cups of water, 1/2 tablespoon salt and 1 tablespoon olive oil to a medium pot, Place the pot on a stove on medium heat. When the water comes to a boil, add the yellow split peas and rice. Cover half-way, reduce the heat and let them cook for 15 minutes, or until they half-cooked. Drain and put aside.

Place the bulgur in a medium bowl, pour hot water on the top of it until the water covers the bulgur. Put aside.

In a big saucepan, saute the chopped onion in 3 tablespoons of oil until soft and tender (put 4 tablespoons of fried onion aside to add to the sauce later), add yellow split peas, rice, bulgur, dried herbs, tomato paste, turmeric, salt and pepper to the onion. Toss very well until all the ingredients mix together. Put the mixture aside.
For the sauce: Add 2 tablespoons olive oil to a big pot, add 4 tablespoons fried onion, tomato paste, turmeric, minced garlic, salt, pepper, fresh lemon juice and water. Let the sauce come to a boil. Adjust seasoning (salt, pepper, and lemon juice).
Meanwhile, wash the bell peppers, cut the top of the peppers (keep the lids), remove all the seeds of each pepper.

With a tablespoon, Fill all the peppers with the mixture, put back the lid on the top of each pepper.
Bring out half of the sauce from the pot, place the peppers in the pot (do not put the peppers on the top of each other). Pour the rest of the sauce on the top of the peppers, cover the lid of the pot, bring the sauce to a boil, reduce the heat and let the peppers cook for 40 minutes, or until cooked properly.
Serve the dish with fresh lemon juice and bread.

My Notes:

• You can also cook the dish in a pre-heated oven at 375 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 45 to 50 minutes, or until it cooks properly.
• Choosing a good size pot for the dish is necessary. If the pot is small and you have no choice other than placing the peppers on the top of each other, use two pots instead, or use the oven to cook the dish.
• This dish can be used either as a main course or side dish. If you are cooking it as a main course, use big bell peppers.
• Instead of using lemon juice, some people add some sugar to the sauce to make the taste of the dish sweat. If you like a sauce with a sweet taste, start with adding ½ teaspoon sugar. If you want it sweeter, add more to reach to your desired taste.
• If you wish to have a beautiful, colorful dish, choose your peppers with different colors.