Turmeric Rice with nuts and dried fruit, a super quick and simple side dish recipe that pairs well with any roast or meat alternative. This yellow rice pilaf is wonderfully spiced with a hint of chicken coming from the broth, and it's deliciously fluffy and cooked to perfection.
That I am a big fan of rice, that's an understatement - I absolutely love it! And basmati rice is by far my favourite - it's so versatile and easy to cook, and once I mastered the technique to get fluffy rice every single time, I started experimenting with new flavours too.
My post How to Cook Basmati Rice to Perfection explains all the tricks on how to get simple basmati rice nice and fluffy with perfectly separated grains. And once you have the base, the sky is the limit.
My Pilau Rice is based on that basic recipe, but with added spices and a lovely yellow colour coming from the saffron. This yellow rice with nuts and dried fruit is a variation of that my pilau rice, but it uses turmeric, which is more easily available and way cheaper too.
Apart from nuts and died fruit, you can also add any meat of your choice, like I did with my Beef Pilau. I also added chicken stock/broth to my yellow rice pilaf for added flavour, and what a combo that is!
If the terms pilau, pilaf, pulao sound confusing - don't worry! It's exactly the same thing, just different spelling variations depending on the different cuisines.
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Ingredients used
- basmati rice - always rinse it well until the water runs clear
- onion - fry it well to a golden colour
- butter - to fry the onion
- spices - turmeric, cinnamon stick, cloves and cardamom - my go to spices for a Middle Eastern touch
- fruit and nuts - dried apricots, raisins, pistachios and almonds
- chicken stock / broth - for extra flavour
Easy Swaps
You can use way more dried fruit and nuts for this recipe, a few of my other choices would be: sultanas, prunes, currants, cashew nuts or peanuts.
The chicken stock / broth can be replaced with water for a vegetarian dish, or beef stock for a deeper flavour.
Step-by-step photos and instructions
- in a pan set over a medium heat, toast the nuts for 2-3 minutes just to up the flavours
- remove them from the pan and set aside
- in the same pan, melt the butter, add the onion and fry until golden
- add the spices and give everything a good stir
- fry the spices for 1 minutes to enhance the flavours, then add in the rinsed rice and stir
- pour in the stock, place a lid on, and let it simmer until all the liquid is completely evaporated
- remove the pan from the heat, but keep the lid on for another 5 minutes so that the rice can absorb all the steam
- use a fork to fluff the rice up - serve hot
Expert tips
This recipe is pretty much failproof - once the rice is cooked right, you know it's going to taste amazing! To know if the rice absorbed all the liquid, tilt the pan slightly, if the rice stays in place, it's all good.
When the lid comes off the pan, before you use a fork to fluff the rice up, you can fish for the cinnamon stick, cloves and cardamom pods - they are all at the top easy to spot and remove - they can be a bit of a pain otherwise to remove once the rice is fluffed up.
What to serve with turmeric rice
When it comes to side dishes, my first choices are either rice or potatoes, no messing about here! And the good thing about this rice is that it's mild enough to be enjoyed by everyone, kids included.
It goes wonderfully well with roast chicken, be it spatchcock chicken or air fryer whole chicken, roast beef, roast pork or lamb ( sorry no lamb recipe here, I'm not a fan of it I'm afraid).
For a vegetarian alternative, I would pair it with whole roasted cauliflower or coconut chickpea curry. For more curries, I have a whole post about Indian curry recipes which are amazing!
Other rice side dishes
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Turmeric Rice
Ingredients
- 1 cup basmati rice
- 1 ¼ cup chicken stock ( broth)
- 25 g butter (2 tbsp)
- 1 small onion
- ¼ cup almond flakes
- ¼ cup pistachios
- ¼ cup raisins
- ¼ cup dried apricots
- 1 teaspoon cloves
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon cardamom pods
- salt and pepper to taste
- fresh parsley to garnish
Instructions
- Heat up a pan on a medium heat.
- Add the almond flakes and shelled pistachios and toast for 1-2 minutes to get a nice golden touch.
- Remove them from the pan and set aside.
- In the same pan, melt the butter, add the peeled and chopped onion, and fry until golden.
- Add the turmeric, cinnamon stick, cloves and cardamom pods, and stir for 1 minute for the spices to release their flavour.
- Add a touch of salt and black pepper at this point too if you wish.
- Rinse the rice with cold water until this runs clear, then add the rice to the pan together with the toasted nuts and dried fruit cut into pieces.
- Pour in the chicken stock, place a lid on the pan, and leave to simmer until all the liquid is evaporated.
- Remove the pan from the heat, but leave the lid on for an extra 5 minutes.
- Use a fork to fluff the rice up, then garnish with freshly-chopped parsley.
Video
Notes
- This recipe is pretty much failproof - once the rice is cooked right, you know it's going to taste amazing! To know if the rice absorbed all the liquid, tilt the pan slightly, if the rice stays in place, it's all good.
- When the lid comes off the pan, before you use a fork to fluff the rice up, you can fish for the cinnamon stick, cloves and cardamom pods - they are all at the top easy to spot and remove - they can be a bit of a pain otherwise to remove once the rice is fluffed up.
Nutrition
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