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| Louisiana popcorn rice |
In my ancestral home in western Uttar Pradesh, we had a plot of land that was dedicated to growing rice. Water was just 20ft below the ground those days, and the paddy growing area was anyway the kind which held water. Wheat was — and is — the staple of the region, but rice was eaten and relished on special occasions. The paddy that we grew was enough for our small family for a year.
I was reminded of the paddy fields when I saw a small rice plant that chef Neeraj Tyagi had thoughtfully placed in a vase on a table the other evening. It was a symbol of the meal that he had prepared for me — dishes cooked with various kinds of exotic rice.
Chef Neeraj is also from western UP — so we get along like a house on fire. And though, like me, he grew up on rotis, the executive chef at The Claridges in New Delhi has been studying rice for a while now. For his Louisiana popcorn rice — so called because the flavour of the rice reminds you of paper bags in cinema halls — for instance, he had to move heaven and earth to get a consignment. “But this is the rice that has to be used for the Louisiana crayfish etouffee,” he says. The dish is a preparation of rice moulded over crayfish, flavour-ed with green onions, tomato puree, butter and sherry.
Rice, as you can tell, has to be of a particular kind for a particular dish. Our biryanis, for example, are mostly cooked with long-grained Basmati and you cannot eat meen curry without the red matta rice that grows in Kerala. Likewise, Japanese food demands sticky rice, while a dish of risotto needs something starchy.
I have always used Arborio for my risotto, but chef Neeraj prefers the Vialone nano — said to have been first cultivated in northern Italy almost 70 years ago. “This rice works well because it gives the right consistency and flavours to the risotto,” he says.
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| Risotto |
Though cookbooks tell us that Arborio is the traditional rice used in risotto, Italian chefs have their own favourites. Chef Davide Cananzi, who is based in Calcutta (he was with the Hotel Hindusthan International and is now set to open a new Italian restaurant in the city) prefers the longer and thinner Carnaroli.
“It absorbs the flavour and keeps its shape when it is cooking,” says chef Davide. “It stays al dente and is starchy — so one doesn’t have to use butter or cream for the right consistency,” he points out.
Across the world, different kinds of rice are used in different cuisines. And though, I suppose, one can always mix and match, you can’t really substitute jasmine rice with the Australian Doongara in a Chinese meal. And a variety of aromatic, long grained rice that doesn’t stick — like Basmati — won’t do for Japanese dishes. The taco rice — a great street food favourit e of Japan — has to be sticky.
Chef Rakesh Prasad, who cooks excellent Japanese food at the Hotel Suryaa in New Delhi, likes to use a Japanese variety called Koshihikari for Japanese cuisine. The Japanese like their food to be beautiful and this rice is known for its pleasing appearance. “For our sushis and sashimis, the rice has to be glutinous, which has nutritive value as well as a high holding capacity — which you need for shaping the rolls,” he says.
Indeed, the consistency of cooked rice is what a dish is all about. The Spanish paella — a delicious concoction of rice cooked with all kinds of seafood and other delectable stuff — works wonderfully well when chef Neeraj uses a Spanish rice called Bomba. “The rice is 30 per cent more absorbent than other varieties, so it takes in all the varied flavours that go into the paella,” the chef says.
According to one estimate, there are 40,000 varieties of rice in the world. It won’t surprise me if there are as many recipes for rice dishes. Indians who worship rice — it’s there in almost every holy ritual — know that no feast is really complete without a rice dish. And though I still like my rotis, I have to admit that rice is in a class of its own. Sticky, starchy or fluffy.
Taco rice (serves 4)
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Ingredients:
• 400g Japanese sticky rice • 400g minced beef • 50g garlic • 100g chorizo • 10g cayenne pepper • 15g chilli flakes • 250g fresh tomatoes • 50g tomato ketchup • 15ml Tabasco sauce • 50g cucumber • 200g iceberg lettuce • 100g onion • 20g parsley • salt to taste l150ml oil
Method:
Soak the rice for 20 minutes and put it in an electric rice cooker. Add enough water to cover the rice. Now cook it for 15 minutes. Heat oil in a pan. Add chorizo, chopped onions and garlic. Sauté. Add minced beef and cook. Add tomatoes and cook for 10 minutes. Add all the spices and salt. Finish with tomato ketchup and Tabasco sauce. Arrange the garlic fried rice on the base of a dish and then put shredded lettuce over it. Top it with diced tomatoes and cucumber and the prepared beef. Garnish with parsley.
