Description
A Turkish rice pilaf with vermicelli is buttery, savory and has a nice bite to it! It’s also extremely easy to make as long as you’ve got the right pan and the right kind of rice.
Ingredients
Scale
For the rice pilaf:
- 325g Turkish baldo rice (1 ⅔ cups), or use thai jasmine rice
- 2 tsp fine salt, divided
- 40g butter, diced (3 tbsp)
- 3 heaped tbsp tel şehriye pasta, or break angel hair into 2,5cm (1 inch) pieces
- 540ml chicken stock (2 ¼ cups), or use vegetable stock to keep it vegetarian
To serve:
- freshly ground black pepper
- spoonfuls of Turkish yogurt, or use full-fat Greek yogurt
Instructions
- Wash and soak the rice. Put the rice in a colander and rinse it under lukewarm running water until the water runs clear. Put the rice into a large bowl, cover it with lukewarm water, and mix in 1 tsp of salt. Let the rice soak for 30 min then drain using the colander again.
- Sauté the vermicelli. For this recipe you will need a wide non-stick pan that has a tight-fitting lid. The sides should be at least 8 cm (3 in) high. Place the pan on the largest burner and melt the butter over medium heat. Once melted, add the pasta and sauté stirring often with a wooden spoon until the şehriye turn golden brown. It usually takes around 3 to 4 min.
- Cook the rice. Add the rice to the pan, stir until most of the grains are coated in butter and cook for 2 min. Add the stock into the pan and the remaining 1 tsp of salt, stir and increase the heat to quickly bring to a boil. Cover with the lid and reduce the heat to medium-low. For example, the heats of my induction stove go from 1 to 10 (10 being the hottest) and I lower the temperature to 4 when I cook Turkish rice pilaf. Cook the rice, covered, for 10 min. If the stock hasn’t been completely absorbed by then, uncover the pan and keep cooking until it has. On the contrary, if the rice pilaf looks a bit dry and not completely cooked through (don’t hesitate to taste but be careful not to burn yourself) add a splash of water and keep cooking covered until absorbed.
- Let the Turkish rice pilaf rest. Turn off the heat, remove the lid and stir the rice gently with a wooden spoon. Lay a clean tea towel or several sheets of paper towels over the pan (it shouldn’t touch the rice). Put the lid back on and let the rice sit for 10 min. Fluff the rice gently again and serve sprinkled with freshly ground black pepper and big spoonfuls of yogurt!
Notes
Turkish rice pilaf can be made using arpa şehriye (orzo pasta) instead of tel şehriye (vermicelli/broken angel hair).
You can keep leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 545
Keywords: baldo rice, stovetop rice