Pilau et Bordeaux

When I was in college the first time in Chicago, I was also working full time at the local Dunkin Donuts. I became very good friends with my co-worker, a young Pakistani woman named Rubina. One year she honored me by inviting me to spend the day and night at her house for her birthday.

I remember the party fondly. I was the only non-pakistani, and the only one over 5'5 (I am 5'10). They were very honored to have me. We sang songs, danced and ate. My goodness, the food. It was the first time I had proper pilau rice. (And I grew up with Indian friends, but their parents always made us American food) I remember seeing and smelling it as her mother pulled it out of the oven, an enormous amount of rice baked in what appeared to be a roasting pan. The whole house was filled with the lovely smell of that golden rice studded with cloves and little magic stars. It is such a delicate an ethereal dish. Not overpowering, not intense like curries, but the most perfect, gentle accompaniment...to anything.

To this day, I am transported by pilau. And there are a million and one ways to make it. I favor easier ones and you can pretty much alter this general recipe to taste or to what you have in the pantry, but the general idea is:

Saute 1-2 chopped onions in olive oil or butter
Add 3-4 cardamon pods cracked slightly
a stick of cinnamon
5-8 whole cloves
3-4 star anise
1 tsp whole cumin seeds
Saute the spices with the onions for about 2 minutes, don't let them burn.
Add 1 cup basmati or jasmine rice (though normal rice is fine too)
Saute for about 1- 2 minutes till rice is opaque
Add two cups water or broth and bring to boil
Turn down heat to 1-2 and simmer with lid on for 20 minutes
Remove from heat and let sit with lid on till ready with the rest of your meal
**Pick spices off top of rice before scooping or stirring...otherwise you will have the unpleasant experience of biting into a cardamon or whole clove!***
If you want add 1 tb of butter for richness

The flavor is so light, so transporting...I don't even use the butter I like it so much. Thank you Rubina for sharing with me.

Tonight we had pilau with dal (though I doubled garlic and ginger and added tomatoes...mmmm), smashed avocado, and wheat tortilla crisps ( Just cut up a wheat tortilla, brush with olive oil or fat free cookspray, sprinkle with fave seasoning and broil under low broil. Keep an eye on it and flip when brown to brown the other side . Literally takes 1-3 minutes. 1 tortilla per person is more than enough.)

The boy had a job at Watershed today and ended up bringing home a delightfully different bordeaux, Chateau Gaillard Saint Emilion Grand Cru 2003. This wine is not normally in our price range, but was not terribly expensive at $25. It had almost no fruit in it, so didn't pare well with our spicy vegetarian food which could have used fat plums or raspberry to land on, but it was remarkable nonetheless. A truly masculine wine consisting of mostly cigar, woody, smoky notes. It immediately conjured thick smoky steaks. I longed for a proper cheese or a piece of dark chocolate. The boy settled for snickers. I settled for another glass solo. A lovely surprise.

On the stereo:Beatles "Sgt. Peppers", Jimi Hendrix "Axis:Bold as love" and Bowie "Heathen."

One of our dogs, Heidi, likes pilau too.

We were grateful for: The boy was grateful for the wine, I was grateful for the food and the memories conjured.