How to Cook Indian Turmeric Rice

Turmeric Rice is one of several Indian recipes designed to hold up perfectly to the curries and spices of Indian food. A savory, fragrant rice dish, various seeds, nuts and raisins can be added to the dish for variety, if desired.

The health benefits of turmeric are pretty amazing. It's been used as an anti-inflammatory for hundreds of years in India and China and modern medical researchers are finding it may be useful in combating Alzheimer's and other neural diseases as well as some cancers and liver disorders

You can make this dish in a rice cooker if you want, just saute the rice before you put it in the machine with water or stock to cook.

Ingredients

3 cups uncooked rice
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp turmeric powder
3 cups chicken stock or water
3 tablespoons butter or margarine

Directions

Put the rice into a sieve or mesh colander and then into a bowl of water. Wash the rice well and drain off the water. Move the sieve to a fresh bowl of water and soak the rice for 20 minutes. Remove the sieve from the bowl and drain off the water. Rinse the rice one more time under the faucet with cold water. Drain as much water off the rice as you can.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Reduce to medium low and add the rice to pan. Saute the rice for about 1minute, constantly stirring. Add the salt and turmeric and mix well. Continue cooking and stirring until the spice is evenly distributed, about one more minute.

Add the chicken stock (or water) and stir the rice once. Raise the heat to medium high and bring the stock to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pan, and cook the rice for about 12 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and let the rice continue steaming under the lid for about 5 minutes. Give the rice a stir to bring it up from the bottom and transfer to a serving bowl.

Serve with your favorite curry, or just about anything else you can think of eating with rice.

Serves 6.