Rice Around the World

Christmas doesn’t usually involve much to excite my interest. It’s tacky, gaudy and over-commercialised; a materialistic frenzy coated with an increasingly brittle religious veneer. But this year I had some small cause to get into the spirit of the thing when I and my lovely other were presented with a Christmas hamper by the in-laws. Although it contained many a lip-smacking morsel, which I soon ruthlessly plundered, it was the bundle’s container that really caught my attention. No mere basket was this, no! The whole bundle was neatly contained inside a paella pan. My pulse skipped a beat.

The pan itself is an unassuming enamel dish, about 30cm wide and five deep, with angled sides slanting in to a flat base. The trick to using it is in careful temperature regulation, correct proportions of rice to water and just the right amount of Moorish spices to enhance, but not dominate the natural flavours of the rice. Your traditional paella is most often associated with chicken, rabbit, seafood and/or chorizo but really, who needs to stand on tradition? Imagination is the only real limit to the contents of this dish - and possibly the volume of the pan itself.

So I’ll share with you a couple of dishes I’ve whipped up since acquiring this wonderful piece of equipment, because you’re not only limited to paella. A number of cultures have a rice dish prepared using similar, if not identical methods. Think risotto or the Indian biryani. The only real difference is a couple of ingredients here and one spice substituted for another there.

I must include a disclaimer at this point. I am in no way claiming this to be the traditional method for preparing any of the dishes included. As I have had no formal training in any of the cuisines I’m about to pilfer from, it’d be worse than dishonest to make any claims of authenticity. What I do know, however, is that these recipes work and they taste good, and that’s enough for me.

So anyway, first off there are the ingredients common to both dishes. This should feed three people easily, or only two if you’re starving. For a pan the size of mine use…

- One cup of your chosen rice; I use Basmati for both paella and biryani, although I can hear the purists screaming already. I’ve read that Arborio’s a suitable substitute for the traditional Spanish medium-grain rices, but I find the paella comes out too gluggy.
- One medium onion, diced to a medium size.
- Three cloves of garlic (at least, I love the stuff).
- Three cups of water or stock.
- A pinch of Saffron soaked in about three tablespoons of warm water.
- Three chicken thigh fillets, cut into 2cm cubes.
- Salt & Pepper.

Now the recipes diverge…

Paella
- On a medium gas flame (you can use electric but it really isn’t as effective. I use our little gas camping stove) fry the onions and garlic in a tablespoon of good olive oil until they’re about three-quarters cooked. Transfer this into a small bowl at set to one side.
- Turn up the flame slightly and start frying your chicken pieces. Don’t throw them all in at once, because the temperature in the pan will drop too much and they’ll start to stew (bad). I like to start with a third of the meat and allowing it to brown off before adding the next third, and so on. Once all of the meat is sizzling away nicely, but not quite cooked all the way through, transfer it to another bowl and, once again, set to one side.
- Return the onions and garlic to the pan and wait until it’s all sizzling nicely, then pour in your rice and stir it all around so it’s all mixed through. Let this sizzle away for a minute or two, stirring constantly so it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan, then pour in the saffron water, strands and all.
- Pour in your water or stock and stir to combine everything.
- Bring the liquid to the boil, stirring every couple of minutes to stop anything sticking to the pan. Once it’s boiling, add your chicken pieces and about half a cup of broad beans (if they’re in season, we still have some of last season’s crop in the freezer) and turn the flame down to low. Allow it to sit for 10 minutes, then give the pan a little shake to dislodge any bits sticking. Leave it for another 10-15 minutes then turn off the flame and cover the pan with a lid, leaving it once again for seven minutes.
- Serve with a nice Clare valley Riesling or an Adelaide Hills Pinot Gris.

Biryani
- Repeat the steps above until you’re ready to put the onions and garlic into the pan for the second time.
- Once it’s sizzling again, add half a teaspoon of Turmeric, a teaspoon each of ground Cumin seed, ground Coriander seed, Garam Masala, two finely chopped fresh chillies (medium strength, if you’re into that kind of thing) and five Cardamom pods. Stir vigorously so it doesn’t stick to the pan and burn.
- After a minute or so, add the rice and Saffron, as for the paella.
- Repeat the paella cooking instructions from this point on, but serve with a tall glass of Coopers Pale Ale.
- Yum!