The Ultimate Rice Cooker (30 page)
1. Cut each chicken thigh in two. Place the chicken pieces on a plate and season them with half the lime juice and salt and pepper to taste. Let the chicken marinate for about 15 minutes.
2. In a heavy medium-size nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over high heat. When hot, brown the chicken pieces on both sides until golden, about 5 minutes per side. As they are browned, transfer them to a clean plate and set aside.
3. Set the rice cooker for the Quick Cook or regular cycle. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in the rice cooker bowl. When hot, add the onion and garlic and stir to combine. Cook until the onion begins to soften, about 2 minutes. Do not allow the garlic to burn. Add the bell peppers; stir to combine. Add the rice and cumin; stir to combine and cook, stirring occasionally, until the rice is opaque, about 10 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, put the water in a 2-cup glass measuring cup. Add the remaining lime juice and the achiote paste, breaking up the achiote paste with your fingers as you add it (it can stain fabric, so take care). Stir to dissolve the achiote.
5. Add the cilantro and tomatoes to the rice cooker, along with 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon black pepper. Add the beer and achiote water. You’ll need about 3.4 cup additional liquid. If you have reserved tomato juices from the canned tomatoes, measure it, adding water to reach the 3.4-cup level. If not, add an additional 3.4 cup water. Stir well to combine the ingredients. Add the chicken, along with any juices that have accumulated on the plate. Push the chicken pieces down into the rice. Close the cover and reset for the regular cycle or let the regular cycle complete.
6. When the machine switches to the Keep Warm cycle, quickly open the cover and sprinkle the peas on top. Close the cover and let the rice steam for 10 to 15 minutes. Gently fluff the rice with a wooden or plastic rice paddle or wooden spoon and stir to incorporate the peas. Serve immediately.
THE BASICS : PILAFIN THE RICE COOKER
You can sauté the rice right in the cooker bowl before adding the liquid. It will then finish cooking on the regular cycle just like plain rice.
1. Place the butter, in pieces, or oil in the rice cooker bowl. Set the bowl into the machine body. Plug it in.
2. Press the On switch to cook or set for the regular cycle. If your machine has a soaking period built in, use the Quick Cook cycle. Butter will melt in about 5 minutes or, if using oil, let it heat up for 5 minutes. Leave the cover open or closed while you are doing this.
3. Add the measured amount of rice to the hot butter or oil and stir with a wooden or plastic rice paddle or wooden spoon. Leave uncovered or cover, as you wish. Some on/off cookers won’t heat without the cover on. The rice will gradually heat up and gently sizzle, releasing its natural fragrance. Stir occasionally. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes. You can sauté the rice for a short time, just until warm, or until it turns golden, according to your personal preference. Sautéeing the rice in the cooker like this will always take a bit longer than if you were doing it on the stovetop, but you won’t have an extra pan to wash.
4. Add the liquid, salt, and any other ingredients as specified in the recipe. Close the cover and complete the cooking cycle. (If you used the Quick Cook cycle to sauté the rice, reset for the regular cycle.)
5. Let the cooked rice steam for 10 to 15 minutes on the Keep Warm cycle before serving. If the rice is too moist, leave it on the Keep Warm cycle longer, or reset for the regular cycle, set a timer for 10 minutes, and continue to steam until the desired consistency is achieved. Turn off the machine or unplug it to stop cooking.
GARAM MASALA
The blending of spices, as opposed to using a solitary herb or spice, is characteristic of Indian cuisine. A garam masala, or melange of “hot spices,” is the essence of this custom and it is said that one must be a good
masalchi
, a fearless blender of spices, before one can become a good Indian chef. The art of the blending involves grinding or pounding (in a mortar and pestle) a combination of roasted or sun-dried spices.
There are almost as many formulas for this Indian spice blend as there are families in India. Some are chile hot, others more aromatic. The proportions even change with the seasons. You can buy garam masala in jars or boxes, but if you make it yourself, it will be fresher and more fragrant. Beth used to work at India Joze, a restaurant in Santa Cruz that specialized in cooking from all sorts of cuisines. Every day the backup chefs, who all had their own coffee grinders just for spices by their cooking stations, prepared their garam masala spice blends right before making a particular dish. You could hear the whir of the grinders as they cooked!
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.
Asparagus and Mushroom Risotto
Prawn Risotto with Seasonal Vegetables
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.