2Tbspolive oil, I use a mild extra virgin or butter
3Tbsporzo pasta, risoni/arpa şehriye or broken vermicelli pasta (tel şehriye)
450mlwater
1Tbspbutter, optional
salt
How I make it
Rinse the rice in several changes of fresh water until the water no longer immediately becomes very cloudy (see text above). Drain.
Add the olive oil or butter to a pot set over medium/low heat. Add the pasta. Fry until light brown, stirring regularly. Add the rice and ½ tsp salt. Add the water. Put a lid on, bring to the boil and turn the heat down to low. Leave to cook for 12 minutes.
Take off the heat and leave (without taking the lid off) for 20-30 minutes, or as long as you can bear to wait. For a buttery rice, quickly add 1 Tbsp butter as you take the rice off the heat, closing the lid immediately to ensure as little steam as possible escapes.
When ready to eat, fluff the rice up with a fork, adding more salt if necessary. For a more buttery flavour, mix in another tablespoon of butter just prior to serving.
Tips & notes
This recipe is Turkish style in preparation, but using basmati rice in place of the more commonly used short grain baldo rice. To get it exactly like most places in Turkey, you need to use baldo rice and a lot more fats. Otherwise the method is much the same. You'll need a longer cooking time and to brace yourself for a lot more trial and error before managing to get the grains fluffy and separate. It's not for no reason cooking rice is seen as the ultimate kitchen test in these lands!
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