Tarun Kapoor is executive chef at Doha’s Horizon Manor Hotel. Send your feedback to:
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Rice is undoubtedly the most versatile and widely eaten staple food of the world. You can pair it with your choice of meats, your choice of vegetable or combine it with many more ingredients and make your own dish. Some of the best dishes from the culinary world are based with rice like biryani, majboos, kabsa, paella, pilaf, risotto, sushi, and dolma or the simple steamed rice.
You can find plenty of dishes based with rice in every cuisine of the world. Out of the huge varieties of rice today I will talk about the basmati rice. Basmati is a traditional aromatic and long grain rice variety originally from northern India and Pakistan. It is known for the aroma. Even basmati rice has several varieties.
Basmati rice has always been the centre of agricultural research and thus newer hybrid varieties are always introduced in the market. Also, there is a regular adulteration by the fraudulent traders due to the difficulty in differentiating the original basmati from its cheaper clones. Arabic cuisine also features some rice-based dishes, one such dish is rice and lamb hashweh
Lamb and rice hashweh
Ingredients
Lamb, minced 500g
Onion, chop 2no
Garlic, chop 2tbsp
Dill 1tbsp
Coriander leaves, chop 2tbsp
Pine nut 50g
Green peas 100g
Olive oil 4tbsp
Cinnamon powder ½ tsp
Cardamom powder ½ tsp
Lemon powder ½ tsp
Cumin powder 2 tbsp
Basmati rice 250g
Salt to taste
Puff pastry 200g
Method
Heat oil in a heavy bottom pan and sauté chopped onion, garlic and cook till onion turn translucent.
Add lamb mince and continue to cook for another 20-25 minutes, add moisture if the lamb mince starts to stick.
In the meanwhile, boil the rice till almost 3/4th cooked and keep aside.
Add green peas and add all the remaining spices to the lamb mixture and mix well.
Once the lamb is cooked adjust the seasoning and add the prepared rice and remove from flame.
Roll the puff pastry into 3-4 mm thickness and place on a serving bowl.
Scoop the prepared rice on the puff pastry and fold over the edges to make a cup.
Turn the prepared rice bowl upside down and bake in preheated oven at 180 degree C for 20- 25 minutes.
Once the top gets a nice golden brown colour, remove from oven and brush with butter and serve hot.
Lemon curd
Lemon curd is a creamy dessert spread and topping that is made by cooking lemon juice, egg yolks, and sugar. Fresh lemon juice and sugar makes this dessert into a delectable sweet and sour classic preparation. Lemon curd is divine on buttered toast, a simple and perfect way to appreciate the curd’s cool, satiny texture.
It makes an easy and delicious filling for tarts, cakes, and cookies. And a dollop of lemon curd tastes delicious with a piece of gingerbread or a slice of pound cake. Lemon curd can be used into a variety of food preparations, the simplest is to use it as a spread on a scone, crepe or an English muffin.
Lemon curd can also serve as an icing to your home made cake. Lemon curd has a bright colour and sweet tart flavour. Other citrus fruits like orange, strawberries, raspberries are also used to make other variations of the curd.
Made by gently cooking a mixture of fresh lemon, sugar, butter and eggs until thickened. Lemon curd is easy to prepare, except for one pesky problem, it sometimes winds up with bits of cooked and curdled egg. This problem is especially common in recipes that use whole eggs as well as egg yolks. Because the eggs whites cook at a lower temperature, they’re more prone to coagulation. These cooked bits don’t ruin the flavour of the curd, but a smooth texture will require careful straining, and quite a bit of the mixture can get lost in the process. It’s also rather alarming, especially for the uninitiated, to see those white lumps form during cooking.
Lemon curd
Ingredients
Egg yolks 3 no
Lemon juice 1/4 cup
Lemon zest 1/2 lemon
Sugar 6 tbsp
Unsalted butter 4 tbsp
Method
Combine egg yolks, lemon zest, lemon juice and sugar in small saucepan and whisk to combine.
Set over medium heat and stir constantly with wooden spoon, making sure to stir sides and bottom of pan.
Cook for 5 to 7 minutes or until mixture is thick enough to coat back of wooden spoon.
Remove saucepan from heat and add butter stirring with wooden spoon until consistency is smooth.
Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl and cover with a plastic wrap to avoid a skin formation on top.
Refrigerate for 1 hour or until the curd is firm and chilled.
Use as a filling for tart or as an icing for cake.
Lamb and rice hashweh.
