Most times when I make a dish, I already have a rough idea of what I am going to name it. On this day, I had absolutely no idea what I would name the rice dish I was making. I did not want to name it according to the ingredients, but something a little bit more creative and different, but my brain refused to cooperate. I then reached out to you on my Instagram stories (If you ain’t following me on Instagram, please do! I would love to have you! <3) for help. 200 responses later, I was very much entertained by your suggestions for my rice dish. From the sassy suggestions like ‘yaaaaaaaaaas rice’ and ‘bomb.com rice’, to funny ones like ‘somebody herb me’ and ‘walk wasabi KaluhiWali Kaluhi Wali’ and the rather strange ones like ‘Zemachi’ ‘Erromerro’ and Ruz rice’. Ya’ll are so so funny 😀 😀 :D, and so sweet as well for coming through to helping me. I appreciate each one of you! I decided to settle on 7 spice sunny rice, which is a combination of names from @tebz.co.ke and @martin_m.k. Asanteni!
So for this lovely day, let’s have some delicious rice!
PREP TIME: 8 MIN MAKE TIME: 20 MIN SERVES: 4
Rice Ingredients:
1 cup of rice (basmati/pishori)
1 red onion, finely chopped
1 tomato, grated
1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
3 whole cloves
2 cinnamon sticks
2 bay leaves
1/2 a teaspoon of grated ginger
5 cloves of minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon of turmeric
1 tablespoon of black pepper
Salt to taste
Vegetable oil for frying
Method
In your sufuria, add the red onion, onion, garlic ginger and all the spices. The spices are added at this phase of the cooking to allow them to really cook down and develop into their fullness. If you do not have access to the whole spices that I am using, you can use the already crushed ones which you can find at any supermarket.
Let this simmer for about 10-15 minutes on low heat and then add the tomatoes and tomato paste. Let this simmer for about 5 minutes then add the rice, salt and water. This is what differentiates my 7 spice fried rice from fried rice. This dish is cooked in a spiced broth, which the raw rice absorbs and takes up the flavor. Same way pilau and jollof is made only each one uniquely and beautifully different. Fried rice on the other hand is prepared with already cooked rice cooked in select fried herbs and spices. Check out my latest fried rice recipe here.
Let this cook down until the water reduces below the rice level. Turn the heat to low and cover with a lid and allow it to finish cooking. Once done, toss with a fork, discard the cinnamon sticks and bay leaves.
Garnish with fresh rosemary leaves then serve. Truly one sunny dish!
When one of my readers suggested I name this dish “yaaaaaaaaaaas rice” she said that this rice looks like one would just exclaim yaaaassssssssss at first bite. And you know what, she was right! This was really delicious!
The garlic and ginger were the most prominent aroma while cooking and also the most prominent at first bite. This gives way to other flavors such as the cumin and the clove and them later the softer warmer ones such as the cinnamon. The herbiness of the rosemary simply ties everything together <3
Try this one out. Then tell me, what would you have named this dish?
XX
-K
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Hey there! My name is Kaluhi and I love food! Through my blog, I am happy to share with you my self-taught recipes, steeped in nostalgia and the happiest of memories. I hope each recipe you try out is as addictive as the previous one and is shared on a table full of love and hearty laughs!
Tried this but adjusted chili upwards. It’s now a family favorite <3
*high five*<3 <3 <3
This one doesn’t need accompaniment, it’s good to go on its own…looks yummy.
Forreal!!!!!!!
This was really tasty, thanks for posting. I didn’t see the tomato paste amount specified so I did 2 tbspn for 1.5 cups rice. Will use less in the future. What would you recommend?
Two tablespoons was a bit on the extreme end…One tablespoon was enought. I have corrected the recipe to indicate that. Plus, incase you are not sure of anything, just send me a tweet of a DM on Instagram and I will answer. <3
Hey kaluhi,I cooked this dish na ilikuwa poa sana.I was thinking what if i added coriander stalks,would it make the dish even better?
Your advice is highly appreciated.
Coriander stalks would be perfect for this dish!!! Go right ahead <3
Hey, where do u get cinnamon sticks and bay leaves?
Supermarket spice isle
How do you measure the water to enable the rice come out soft?
water:Rice always 2:1
Hey Kaluhi nice work there! I’m having trouble with water to rice ratio esp rice from the cereals store, could you educate me on that piece. I’m used to 3 1/4 for one cup of rice, how comes we differ?
I do not know why we differ. For me, My golden ratio has always been 1:2 – rice:Water. It has always worked for me and I choose to stick to that
Do you cook your rice in an open pot?
Because it could mean using more water
Where did you conclude that??