There is a controversy in our household as to whether this is a Mexican recipe or a Spanish one. I'm guessing you could eat it with either type of food. Our main use of this rice is to stuff it into burritos which is why I claim that it is Mexican! We love burritos and I am a bit bewildered as to why I have not posted our favourite burrito fillers yet! I shall have to look into this. If I ever get round to posting instructions on how to put a burrito together I will link it here.
Preparation time: 1 hour; Serves 8 (with side dishes)
Ingredients:
| 350 g | 12 oz | Tomato (the riper and redder the better) |
| 75 g | 1 medium | Onion |
| 3 |
| Jalapenos (optional) |
| 400 g | 2 cups | Basmati rice |
| 75 ml | 1/3 cup | Oil |
| 4 cloves | 1.5 tsp. | Garlic, minced |
| 475 ml | 2 cups | Water |
| 1 |
| Veggie cube |
| 1 tbsp. |
| Tomato paste |
| 1.5 tsp |
| Salt |
| 0.5 cup |
| Cilantro, chopped |
| 1 |
| Lemon |
Method:
Take your tomatoes and onions and put them into your favourite food processor. Puree them and measure out 2 cups (a little under 500 ml). Don't worry if you have small pieces of tomato skin in your puree. It makes the rice look nicer in the end. If you have more than 2 cups of puree do not be tempted to put it in the rice. The rice will get too soggy. Of course you could reduce the amount of water and substitute it with any left over puree.
Mince your chilies (if using) and garlic and then wash your rice. Wash it under cold water and keep washing until the water is only slightly milky. The more starch you get rid of the less sticky your rice will be (at least if you are using basmati). Drain well.
The rice needs to be baked in the oven so make sure you pick a pan, with a fitting lid, that can be put in the oven. Make sure it is large enough to deal with the expanding rice. Now heat this pan on medium high and add the oil. Now is also the time to put your oven on at 160 C for a fan oven or 180 C (350 F) for a conventional oven.
Now back to your oil. You will know if the oil is hot enough because the oil will sizzle when the rice is added. Add a grain to check. Once the oil is hot add the rice and fry. Keep on stirring it to prevent it from burning. It should be fried for 6 - 8 minutes, until some of it is golden brown.
Reduce the heat to low and stir in the garlic and chili. Stir continuously until it is well distributed. It always takes me forever to get the garlic well combined, but it is quite essential so that no one ends up with a clump of garlic in their rice.
Now stir in the water, vegetable cube, puree, tomato paste and salt. Just for the record: tomato paste is highly concentrated tomato. I don't know what you could substitute it with if you could not get it but I personally would just omit it rather than use some other tomato product. Mix everything well and increase the temperature to medium high. Bring the whole thing to a boil.
Once it boils take it off the stove top and put it in the oven. The rice should bake for 30 minutes and it needs to be stirred in the middle. So set your timer for 15 minutes, take the pot out of the oven and stir it. Replace the lid and pop it back in for a further 15.
Once you take the rice out of the oven (be careful someone always burns themselves on the hot pan!) add the cilantro and the juice of 1 lime and mix well.
Your rice is now ready to serve. You can add it to a burrito or just use it as your main staple. Try mixing other things into it to turn it into a one pot meal.
