Be sure and blanch the almonds. If you don’t, the skins will come off in the rice as it cooks and look very messy as well as taste bitter. Blanched almonds are more expensive, if you can find them, but I think they tend to not age well and become rancid sooner than their well-skinned cousins. Browning them in ghee or coconut oil makes them special and worth the extra work.
- 1/2 Cup Almonds
- 1/2 tsp Black cardamom seeds
- 1 Tbsp Coconut oil or ghee
- 1 1/8 tsp Cinnamon, powdered or cinnamon stick
- 3 Cups basamic rice
- 3 3/4 Cups Water
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/2 Cup Golden raisins
Remove skins from almonds by covering with boiling water until skins can easily be removed. Crush cardamom seeds by placing in plastic bag and hitting with hammer or using mortar or crushing between two spoons. You can use cardamom powder if you can’t find the whole seeds, but the powder does not offer the same fragrant taste.
Melt coconut oil/ghee, add crushed cardamom seeds, and powdered or stick cinnamon. Add blanched almonds and continue to sauté until nuts are pale brown. Be careful. They can easily burn.
Add basmati rice and lightly fry rice until rice grains change color. Add golden or other raisins (rinsed), salt, and enough water to cover rice and have water standing above the surface of the rice to the first knuckle. Bring to boil. Cover tightly and cook until rice is tender and liquid absorbed, about 20 minutes or cook in pressure cooker for five minutes. Fluff before serving.
BREAKFAST BOWL: For a delicious breakfast, serve this with Greek yogurt and treacle (coconut syrup), honey, or maple syrup. We discovered “treacle” in Sri Lanka and loved it, but if you don’t have a neighborhood Sri Lankan store near you, you can find coconut nectar at Whole Foods or on Amazon. We also had Water Buffalo yogurt in Sri Lanka, which is amazing, but even harder to find.
6-8 Servings
Add comment