Green cardamom pods are easily found at an Indian market or any store that sells spices in bulk, as so many natural food stores do. Nutmegs are easier to split than they appear. Just place one on a cutting board and rap it with the bottom of a heavy skillet, or split it with a sharp, heavy knife or cleaver, keeping your fingers well out of the way.
Here is a mild aromatic formula we like; adjust the proportions to suit yourself.
YIELD: About 2 tablespoons
1 tablespoon green cardamom pods
One 2-inch cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
½ teaspoon black peppercorns
10 cloves
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
About ¼ of a whole nutmeg
1. Remove the seeds from the cardamom pods. You can gently smash the pods against a cutting board with the bottom of a drinking glass or use a rolling pin to crush them on a sheet of waxed paper. Then pick out and discard the outer pods, reserving the small, round seeds. Place the cardamom seeds and the rest of the spices in a small, dry skillet.
2. Place the skillet over medium heat and toast the spices until they are fragrant, 3 to 5 minutes. Shake the skillet periodically or stir with a wooden spoon, so the spices don’t burn. Transfer the toasted spices to a small plate to cool. (If they remain in the hot skillet, even off the heat, they are liable to burn.)
3. When the spices are cool, grind them to a powder in a blender or a clean coffee grinder. You can store the garam masala in a tightly capped glass jar, but it is best fresh.
ABOUT GHEE
Ghee is clarified butter, a fat used extensively in Indian cookery and known for its especially delicious flavor. It is cooked long enough for the milk solids to separate from the melted butter; it develops a deliciously nutty aroma and a beautiful golden hue. Ghee contains no oxidized cholesterol or hydrogenated fat, so it is good for special diets, and it has a very high smoking point (unlike plain butter, the solids of which burn quickly), so it is good for cooking. Ghee keeps well (it can be kept at room temperature but lasts for weeks in the refrigerator), so you might want to make a larger amount so you’ll have it on hand.
To make enough ghee for this recipe, cut ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter into quarters. Heat slowly in a small, heavy saucepan set on the lowest heat; do not stir. Allow the butter to simmer gently for about 20 minutes. (If you are making a larger amount, it will take longer.) It will smell nutty and the milk solids, which will settle on the bottom of the pan, will start to turn golden brown. The transparent butter will float on the top; this is the ghee (known as desi ghee in India). Strain the butter through a tea strainer or cheesecloth into another container without disturbing the sediment. Store ghee in a covered container in the refrigerator; it will solidify.
WHAT IS DAL ?
Dal, or dahl, are dried peas and beans that have been part of the Indian cuisine since ancient times. Dals are available whole, split, or ground into flour, and to find a good assortment of them you must shop at an Indian grocery. Not only is dal the name of the dried bean, it is what the cooked dish is called as well. While Americans are familiar with split pea soup or lentil soup, the repertoire of dals is staggering: thick or thin soups, sauces, stews, pancakes, even desserts. Our favorite dals are soups, Zucchini and Mung Dal (opposite) and Yellow Split Pea Soup with Fresh Lemon included here.
Dal soups are seasoned with ginger, to aid digestion, and a fried spice blend known as chaunk, enhancing the flavor considerably. Some dals are prepared with garlic or onions, but traditional dals do not contain these, or any member of the onion family, in the manner of the ancient Hindu culinary laws that have been practiced for 5,000 years.
The most popular dal for soup is the diminutive pale green or yellow mung or moong dal, whole or split without skins. Green or yellow split peas (matar dal ), golden lentils (toovar dal ), or urad dal, also known as black gram, can be substituted, but will taste slightly different and have a different texture and color. Dals are traditionally served with fresh white Indian rices.
Dal should be rinsed with cold water and sorted before soaking. We always make simple dals with split dals; they take less time to cook. While split mung dal generally takes about an hour to cook, remember that the hardness or softness of the water and the age of the dal affect cooking times, so don’t worry if you need to cook your dal an extra 15 to 30 minutes.
PAELLA
Paella is Spain’s grandest and best-known rice dish, and variations of it turn up today in the places that were once part of the Spanish empire—the yellow-hued arroz con pollo of Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Mexico; yellow rice, chicken, and seafood in the Philippines; the arroz amarillo (yellow rice) of Mexico’s Yucatán. All of these share a family tree with paella.
What is a “true” paella? To a cook in Valencia, where paella was invented, it would be a dish of short-grain rice colored yellow with saffron and flavored with meat or seafood, but not both. (Snails—land snails—are one traditional element of the meat rendition.) This is charmingly illustrated in the classic Time-Life cookbook The Cooking of Spain and Portugal with a series of photos showing a family picnicking in a park in Valencia: assembling their rabbit paella on the spot, cooking it over an open fire, and, in the last frame, consuming it. The grand mixed paella, frequently including chicken, sausage, and several kinds of seafood, found in Barcelona and elsewhere in Catalonia, is the version that was exported to the United States.
Of course, it’s a kind of heresy to cook paella in the rice cooker. Paella has its own special pan, which resembles a very shallow, flat-bottomed wok. Paella is cooked over an open fire, or on the stove, but certainly not in a deep pot in an electric appliance! So, we cheerfully admit that our paella is not the real thing. But it looks gorgeous and tastes terrific, and that’s enough for us.
RISOTTO
Risotto Milanese
Butter nut Squash Risotto
Dried Mushroom Risotto
Asparagus and Mushroom Risotto
Prawn Risotto with Seasonal Vegetables
Italian Sausage Risotto
Risi e Bisi
Boiled Italian Rice
Risotto is part of the triumvirate of soul-satisfying Italian starches, along with polenta and pasta. It is described in literature as “gilded grains of gold,” in reference to risotto alla milanese, where the cooked rice is bathed in a pale golden sheen of saffron. It is traditionally exclusively a first course dish, a primi piatti, not an accompaniment like American rice, except when paired with osso bucco. Risotto is a unique type of rice dish with its very own consistency, which is likened to a sauce. Pearl-colored Arborio, the most well-known Italian rice for risotto, has a lot of surface starch, so the rice becomes creamy during cooking, almost like a savory rice pudding. Think of it cooking like pasta: tender on the outside and a hint of resistance on the inside. The center remains al dente, a very different culinary experience if you have never had it before; you might think your rice is not quite cooked.
Arborio medium-grain japonica rice was planted in the Po River valley around Lombardy (its capital is Milan) and Pied mont during the thirteenth century by the Sforza brothers, Visconti dukes of Milan, with seeds from the Benedictine rice crops flourishing at Montecassino. For years it was exported in little canvas sacks, but small plastic bags are now the norm. The top quality rice will be labeled Arborio fino or super fino, a sign that the kernel is the biggest, a standard established in 1931. Lesser grades are labeled fino, semifino, and commune, and are fine to use in soups. A 500-gram bag, a little over a pound, yields about two cups of raw rice.
If you love risotto, you will be pleasantly surprised that there is an entire little family of regionally grown Italian medium-grain rices that include Carnaroli and Vialone nano along with the Arborio. Carnaroli is grown alongside Arborio in Piedmont and Lombardy, those regions having the largest canal-irrigated rice paddies in all of present-day Italy. The newest hybrid of Italian Carnaroli is just starting to be exported from Argentina (where the
Italians planted it early in the twentieth century to cater to the tastes of the Italian immigrants to South America) and is considered equal, even superior, to Arborio. In Venice and Verona, Vialone nano (the rice of choice grown outside Venice and Mantova since the 1600s) is cooked until all’onde, or “wavy,” which is a bit looser texture than the other risotto recipes.
“There is not a huge difference between the texture and mouthfeel of the three Italian medium-grain rices,” says Mediter ranean food expert and writer Joyce Goldstein. “They behave and taste the same. You can use the rices interchangeably in risotto recipes. The big difference is the region in which they are grown and the length of the grain. There is even a fourth risotto rice, a miniature, called Baldo.” Vialone nano is an impressive offering by chefs, but Arborio is easily available. Try all three and make your decision about which one you like the best.
American rice growers are onto developing their own strains of Arborio, the seed stock of which is available from the Rice Research Station seed bank at Biggs, California. Lundberg rice of California has a domestic California Arborio on the market that they have been developing for 10 years. RiceSelect has Texas Arborio (called risotto rice), and there is another domestic called CalRiso. All can be substituted cup for cup for their imported Italian cousins, making lovely, less expensive risottos, although gourmets insist the Italian rices make the most authentic risottos. Similar grains such as quinoa, quick-cooking barley, millet, and bulgur, which cook in a similar manner as rice, can all be substituted for the rice in a risotto.
Risotto is known as a time-consuming rice dish to make because you need to stir it constantly and add the boiling stock in small portions for about half an hour. It is deliberately overcooked and braised uncovered. In the fancy fuzzy logic cooker, you can make really fabulous risotto on the Porridge cycle, which allows it to be braised at a gentle, steady low boil/high simmer. If all you have is the basic kind of rice cooker, you can make a risotto that is almost as good, but you’ll have to watch the time closely, and the consistency will not be quite as sublime. It is a great dish for everyday eating and, once you find out how easy it is to make, you will perhaps make it as often as regular pilaf or plain steamed rice.
To make risotto, use a light stock, like chicken, duck, or veal (The Basics: Homemade Stocks), and about three to four times the volume of the rice. You don’t have to fuss about the exact amount. You may use less liquid than for stovetop risottos because there is less evaporation with the cover closed. You just add all the stock at once (with no preheating of the stock) and only stir a few times. Butter is the traditional cooking fat for sautéing the onion, but these days a bit of olive oil is added, and maybe some pancetta. The bit of butter at the end of cooking is also traditional, but optional.
We found that risotto made with 1 cup of rice cooks in about 20 to 25 minutes in an on/off rice cooker. Note that you will have to set a timer if you are using an on/off cooker. The Porridge cycle on the fuzzy logic machines will time automatically. To serve six to eight people as a first course or three to four as a luncheon main dish, do not use more than 2 cups rice in the medium (6-cup) or large (10-cup) rice cookers, as it is just hard to work with. If you need more risotto, it is best to use two rice cookers at the same time.
Risotto is best served immediately (it thickens dramatically as it stands at room temperature), but in a pinch, it will hold on the Keep Warm cycle for up to an hour. When serving, a warm shallow soup bowl is nice, and a soup spoon, but correct etiquette calls for a fork. Of course, the Italians are sticklers for the right cheese: Parmigiano-Reggiano. Buy imported, even just a little bit, if you can. You can use Pecorino Romano sheep’s milk cheese, even Asiago, in place of the Parmesan (it is quite a bit stronger), or a combination of two, if you like.
CLICK TO SEE THE BASICS: RISOTTO IN THE RICE COOKER
risotto milanese
Risotto Milanese, or risotto with saffron, is the national dish of the Lombardy region of Italy. It has been made there since the late eighteenth century as a special first course washed down with red wine. Use saffron threads here, as powdered saffron is really a lot more potent; you want a faint saffron flavor, not overpowering. It is traditionally served as a starchy side dish to osso bucco (braised veal shanks) and carbonata (Milanese beef stew).
MACHINE: Medium (6-cup) or large (10-cup) rice cooker; fuzzy logic or on/off
CYCLE: Quick Cook and/or regular or Porridge
YIELD: Serves 4 to 5
3 cups chicken stock, or one 14.5-ounce can chicken broth plus water to equal 3 cups
Pinch of saffron threads
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
¾ cup finely chopped yellow onion
¼ cup dry white wine
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons medium-grain risotto rice (superfino Arborio, Carnaroli, or Vialone nano)
TO FINISH
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
Salt
1. In a small saucepan or using the micro wave, heat 1 cup of the stock and crush the saffron into it; let stand for 15 minutes.
2. Set the rice cooker for the Quick Cook or regular cycle. Place the olive oil and butter in the rice cooker bowl. When the butter melts, add the onion. Cook, stirring a few times until softened, about 2 minutes. Stir in the wine and cook for 1 minute. Add the rice and stir occasionally until the grains are transparent except for a white spot on each, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the saffron stock and remaining chicken stock. Close the cover and reset for the Porridge cycle, or for the regular cycle and set a timer for 20 minutes.
3. When the machine switches to the Keep Warm cycle or the timer sounds, stir the rice with a wooden or plastic rice paddle or wooden spoon. The risotto should be only a bit liquid and the rice should be al dente, tender with just a touch of tooth resistance. If needed, cook for a few minutes longer. This risotto will hold on Keep Warm for up to 1 hour.
4. When ready to serve, add the butter. Close the cover for a minute to let the butter melt. Stir in the cheese and salt to taste. Serve immediately.
butter nuts quash risotto
This risotto is heavier on the vegetables (the winter squash and the onion) than is traditional, but it is a favorite autumn and winter variation. Use less squash if you like, but we feel the extra contributes a lovely flavor and color along with a nutritional boost. We also use half stock and half water in order not to overwhelm the delicate squash flavor. You can add some diced zucchini as well; it is a good flavor combination. We like the unconventional addition of lime juice; it brightens the flavor of the squash.
MACHINE: Medium (6-cup) or large (10-cup) rice cooker; fuzzy logic or on/off
CYCLE: Quick Cook and/or regular or
Porridge
YIELD: Serves 4 to 5
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
⅔ cup finely chopped yellow onion
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons medium-grain risotto rice (superfino Arborio, Carnaroli, or Vialone nano)
1¾ to 2 cups peeled and seeded butternut squash cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1½ cups water
1½ cups chicken, veal, or vegetable stock
TO FINISH
2 teaspoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
¼ cup minced fresh Italian parsley leaves
¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
Salt
1. Set the rice cooker for the Quick Cook or regular cycle. Place the olive oil and butter in the rice cooker bowl. When the butter melts, add the onion. Cook, stirring a few times, until softened, about 2 minutes. Add the rice and stir with a wooden or plastic rice paddle or wooden spoon to coat the grains with the hot butter. Cook, stirring a few times, until the grains of rice are transparent except for a white spot on each, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the squash, water, and stock; stir to combine. Close the cover and reset
for the Porridge cycle, or for the regular cycle and set a timer for 20 minutes.
2. When the machine switches to the Keep Warm cycle or the timer sounds, stir the risotto. It should be only a bit liquid, and the rice should be al dente, tender with just a touch of tooth resistance. If needed, cook for a few minutes longer. This risotto will hold on Keep Warm for up to 1 hour.
3. When ready to serve, add the butter. Close the cover for a minute to let the butter melt. Stir in the lime juice, parsley, cheese, and salt to taste. Serve immediately.
dried mushroom risotto
The Italians have a great love for dried mushrooms and, to our advantage, most supermarkets are catching on and offering this once gourmet treasure of flavor. If you like cream of mushroom soup, you will love this risotto, known as risotto con funghi secchi. Choose porcini, the Italian favorite, or another type of dried mushroom like morels, chanterelles, or shiitakes. Or try a blend; we found one called Melissa’s Exotic Mushroom Medley that contains porcini, chanterelle, shiitake, and oyster mushrooms.
MACHINE: Medium (6-cup) or large (10-cup) rice cooker; fuzzy logic or on/off
CYCLE: Quick Cook and/or regular or
Porridge
YIELD: Serves 4 to 5
½ ounce dried mushrooms
1¾ cups hottest possible tap water
About 1½ cups beef, chicken, or vegetable stock
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
½ cup minced onion
¼ cup dry white wine
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons medium-grain risotto rice (superfino Arborio, Carnaroli, or Vialone nano)
The Ultimate Rice Cooker Page 19
