Pilau rice using brown rice

Pilau rice is a fragrant basmati white rice dish that is made with spices and garlic. This pilau rice is cooked with brown rice to give you a nutrient-dense pilau. The extra time to cook brown rice is really worth the wait.

Hi lovely, how are you doing? today am inviting you into my kitchen to cook with me this pilau rice using brown rice. I guess you've already tried my brown rice risotto, haven't you? if not, you are missing out on some deliciousness my friend.

Pilau rice is normally white basmati rice cooked in spices. You'll find it more in Indian, Kenyan, and Tanzanian cuisine.

However, today I want to show you how to make pilau rice using brown rice. We both know that when having autoimmune diseases, or when on weight loss, or just to improve your health, it's better to stay off processed food, right?

I want you to continue enjoying rice, but having it in a healthy version.

Pilau rice always calls for time and it demands the presence, mostly pilau rice and especially in Eastern Africa, is a festival meal that mostly is made with beef or chicken and is served in family parties and weddings because it's not a day-to-day rice recipe.

But worry not, you've got here simple classic pilau rice that you can enjoy any other day with your family or friends.

How to make this pilau rice

• You'll need to heat the spices in a dry pan so that they can give out their aroma
• Cook onions in the spices with some oil till they are fragrant. In classic pilau rice the onions are caramelized till they turn brown. In this brown rice recipe, I want you to keep some nutrients.
• Add dry rice. I normally rinse my rice some hours ahead of cooking to allow it to dry out.
• Add boiling water or vegetable broth and bring to boil.
• Simmer till the liquid has been absorbed.
• Wait for the pilau rice to cool before serving

Pilau spices mix

The strange thing with pilau rice is it has different blends of spices. While you'll love the Kenyan pilau, you'll be surprised when you cross the border to Tanzania, they've their pilau, Indian pilau is yellow because they add turmeric, and so on

I chose my pilau blend according to what's readily available in most countries. This simple pilau rice is unique.

I use a 4 spices mix which you can buy from groceries, then I add cardamom, sweet paprika, black cumin seeds, ginger, and garlic to make this pilau rice. Feel free to add your favorite spices, or to choose another pilau spice mix from Indian shops, for example.

Remember to open the cardamom pods to get the seeds, use the skin to make a cup of tea as you cook your pilau rice!

Brown rice nutrition vs white rice

• Did you know that brown rice is just the white rice that hasn't been processed? So it has its bran, the outer layer which makes it hard and takes longer to cook.
• The whole rice aka brown rice has more nutrients than the white eg. the protein is highly concentrated in the outer bran layer of rice, which is absent in white rice, makes the brown rice rich in proteins.
• The bran (outer layer of the grain) has fiber, vitamin Bs, and is rich in minerals, like Manganese, Selenium, Phosphorus, Copper, Magnesium, etc… It also has antioxidants and phytochemicals that essential for our health.
• Additionally, brown rice has been reported to help improve our health, it's has been studied as antidiabetes, antiobesity, it has anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory properties.
• The germ, where the seed grows is rich in healthy fats and other nutrients.
• The processing of brown to white rice destroys a large amount of these minerals and vitamins leaving only the endosperm that has only the carbohydrates and some little amount of B vitamins and minerals.

There we go, we have made this simple pilau! can we enjoy it together? miam, miam, I love all those flavors, and you?

Serving this brown pilau rice

I love this simple yet delicious brown rice recipe and I hope you'll love it too.

You can serve this pilau rice with any stew or side dish of your liking. I served it with this garlic homemade tomato soup that I had made yesterday.

Pairing these two is like creating a little heaven above us. It's Gosh! so so delicious, my daughter had 2 bowls lol...YOU MUST TRY THESE RECIPES!

Tell me, how did your pilau rice taste? Did you have all the spices or did you have to substitute? Leave me a comment here below.

Thank you for being here, please do share this pilau rice.

Loving you, Githu.

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Pilau rice using brown rice

This pilau rice is very easy to make and deliciously flavored that you'll be making this recipe quite often

Prep Time5 mins

Cook Time30 mins

Total Time35 mins

Course: Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine: anti-inflammatory, gluenfree, healing, healthy, plantbased, Vegan

Diet: Diabetic, Vegan, Vegetarian

Keyword: brown rice recipe, fried rice, pilau rice, vegan rice

Servings: 2 people

Calories:

Author: Githu

Cost: 3€

Equipment

• saucepan
• Cooking spoon
• knife
• Chopping board

Ingredients

Simple Pilau Recipe Using Brown Rice

• 2 cups boiling water or broth
• ½ teaspoon cumin seed, I used black cumin
• 4 pods cardamom
• I tablespoon 4 spice mix
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
• fresh ground pepper
• 3 cloves of garlic
• piece of ginger
• 1 medium onion
• 2 tablespoon olive oil /coconut oil
• 1 cup brown rice (ideally soaked for 6 hours)
• salt to taste

Instructions

• Soak your brown rice for about 6 hours to soften it. Rinse it about 10 and let it drain out all the water
• Boil water in your boiler, if you aren't using a boiler, boil water in a saucepan
• In another saucepan, put the cumin and cardamom seeds and put on the heat at low heat, and cover the pan.
• During that time, dice the onions
• Add them in the saucepan together with the other spices and stir well cover
• Mince the ginger and the garlic.
• Add the olive oil, to the cooking onions.
• Add the minced ginger and garlic, stir and cover, but stir now and then.
• Let them cook for 5 mins on moderate-high heat as you stir now and then
• Add the soaked rice, Make sure it's dry, it should not have extra water. Stir the rice and onions
• Cover and keep on stirring. This should take about 3 minute
• Slowly add 2 cups of boiling water or a broth into the cooking onions, scrape the base to get the stuck spices, add salt, stir and cover
• Increase the heat to start the boiling, after the boiling has picked up, lower the heat to low and let the pilau cook slowly till all water is absorbed
• Please don't stir anymore.
• Let the pilau rice cool before serving.
• Serve with veggies, in salad and guess what you can enjoy it as it is.
• This pilau rice with brown was served with garlic tomato soup.
• Please do rate and leave your comment to let me know how you managed with your pilau rice.

Notes

Depending on your heat source the cooking time can vary. I can sometimes cook this pilau longer in a very low heat when there's heat wave like today here in France.