If you are looking for some flavour in your rice or a pop of colour to you table spread, then think yellow.
Turmeric has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties that come from curcumin, which had its share of popularity in the early 2020s due to Western marketing gimmicks. Most Indians learn about the efficacy of turmeric at an early age - a thick paste of turmeric-yogurt-honey that is used to dot acne or as a face mask; a wound on the knee, slap on some turmeric; every morning drink some turmeric milk tea, etc etc. In fact I have a ready salve of turmeric-neem oil-camphor for my allergy ridden dog who very often scratches herself till she bleeds - put it on her wound and it heals, although it does leave her all yellow.
So using turmeric in rice in Asian cooking is actually very common, from nasi minyak to nasi kunyit to nasi kuning and this simple Turmeric Rice recipe that I usually serve with Balinese Roast Chicken or any masala / paratel meat dishes. This recipe has flavour so I recommend against serving it with curries.
Ingredients for (4-6 pax):
2 cups basmati rice 1 onion, sliced 2 tsps cumin seeds 1 ceylon cinnamon stick about 3cm
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp ghee or oil
Method:
In the rice cooker, heat the ghee and when hot, crackle the spices.
Add the onions and sauté lightly. (Picture above shows volume for 4 cups of rice.)
Pour in the required amount of water (usually for basmati it is 1 : 1.5 (rice : water).
When the water comes to a boil, add the turmeric and salt and then immediately add in the washe rice. (I do this instead of adding the rice at the start as I find the rice remains more firm.)
Give it a quick stir, close the pot and let the rice cooker do its job.
Once it's done, use chopsticks to gentle fluff up the rice then lightly pat down the top and leave it for about 15mins before serving.
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