This Curry Rice is going to blow you away! Not only is it packed to the brim with flavor and texture, but it's also the easiest rice to make! Throw everything (uncooked rice included) into a casserole dish and bake to fluffy perfection -- no mushy rice here!
Course Dinner, lunch, Main Course, Side Dish
Cuisine Healthy, Indian, Vegetarian
Keyword curry rice
Prep Time 10 minutesminutes
Cook Time 55 minutesminutes
Resting Time 10 minutesminutes
Total Time 1 hourhour15 minutesminutes
Servings 6-8 servings (more depending on what you serve it with!)
PREP: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Very generously spray a glass or ceramic (not metal) 9x13-inch pan. Cut butter into 6 thin slices and set aside. Peel and then grate carrots on the large side of a grater.
BAKE: Add the uncooked basmati rice to the pan, along with the grated carrots, all the seasonings, salt & pepper to taste (I add 1-1/4 tsp fine sea salt and 1/2 tsp pepper), minced garlic, ginger paste, and the chicken stock/broth. Stir with a wooden spoon until ingredients are incorporated and spread in one even layer, ensuring that the rice is covered in the liquid. Evenly top with the cut pieces of butter. Cover tightly with foil. Bake for 40 minutes. Then, remove the foil (save foil -- just set aside for now) and bake for 15 more minutes.
REST: Remove from the oven. Don't stir the rice. Top with the foil again and let stand at room temperature to rest for 10 minutes. This is very important to avoid mushy rice!
ENJOY: After 10 minutes, add frozen peas and gently fluff the rice as you mix the peas through. Add toasted almonds and finely chopped cilantro (if using); gently mix through. Taste and add additional salt/pepper if needed. Enjoy as-is or make it into the main course.
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Notes
Note 1: Rice: We tested this recipe with all different kinds of rice and the only one we found success with is basmatirice. Other grains of rice gave very inconsistent results -- ranging from very mushy to unevenly cooked (some hard grains/some mushy).Note 2: Chicken stock: The stock is very important to flavor -- use a full-bodied (not low sodium) stock. We love Swanson® stock best.Note 3: Curry powder: This is where you'll get some heat, so use a curry powder you know you enjoy and can handle the heat of (we use McCormick®). If you aren't sure, add less but know that you will be missing out on some flavor!Note 4: Ginger and garlic: To keep things quick, use refrigerated minced garlic and refrigerated ginger paste. Or use fresh ginger and garlic; simply grate (with a microplane) ginger root and individual garlic cloves into the dish -- no other preparation is necessary.Note 5: Carrots: This recipe uses about two medium-large carrots. Peel then grate on large holes of a grater. Avoid packaged pre-shredded carrots; they are hard, dry, and far less flavorful. When you grate your own carrots you’ll notice how much more moisture the carrots have which is a must for the recipe to properly work.Note 6: Serving suggestions: We couldn't love this sauce more with this rice -- the two are the perfect pairing and a lot of the ingredients overlap from the rice to this sauce. It takes just a few minutes to prepare and is so good! (Plus, it provides a nice cooling element to some of the heat of this rice). Recipe follows.Cooling cucumber sauce: Add the following ingredients to a medium-sized bowl: 1 cup plain, full-fat Greek yogurt (we love Greek Gods), 1 cup finely chopped English or Persian cucumber, 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro, 1 tablespoon finely chopped green onions, and 1/2 teaspoon each: cumin, coriander, and fine sea salt. Stir until combined and then refrigerate. Stir before adding to the cooked curry rice.Note 7: Make this side dish into a main course: Serve with a cooked protein (we love a hot rotisserie chicken or over-easy/over-medium eggs), topped with lots of the cucumber cooling sauce and some naan.