Zanzibar pilau
The spiced rice of the spice island: with meat, cumin, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon and pepper, cooked in the broth. It’s the dish for weddings and the end of Ramadan.
Ingredients
- 500 g basmati rice
- 600 g diced beef or lamb
- 2 onions
- 4 garlic cloves and 1 piece of ginger
- 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds, 6 cardamom pods, 6 cloves, 1 cinnamon stick and 1 teaspoon of peppercorns
- 2 potatoes
- Oil and salt
How to make it at home
- Simmer the meat with water and salt for 1 hour. Keep the broth.
- Fry the onion in oil until deep golden; add the garlic, ginger and the crushed whole spices.
- Add the meat and the potatoes in chunks and stir-fry.
- Add the rinsed rice and the broth (1.5 times the volume of the rice).
- Cook covered over a low heat for about 20 minutes, until the rice is fluffy.
The trick: Crushing the spices before frying releases all their aroma.