Plain White Rice

Name: Plain White Rice
Yield: Serves 4–6
Cuisine: Afghanistan
Ingredients: 1 teaspoon bruised green cardamom pods; 370 g (2 cups) sella basmati rice, soaked for 2–3 hours; 375 ml (1½ cups) hot water; 1 teaspoon cumin seeds; 125 ml (½ cup) sunflower oil

Challaw

Preparation info

Serves
4–6

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Parwana

By Durkhanai Ayubi

Published 2020

About

Challaw is a plain white rice dish and, like palaw, it’s made using long-grain rice. The grains in a perfect challaw are elongated and separate, and it traditionally accompanies sauce-based dishes, such as kofta challaw or the turnip and lamb curry called shalgham challaw. Soak the rice for 2–3 hours or longer before preparing challaw.

Ingredients

370 g (2 cups) sella basmati rice, soaked for 2–3 hours
1 teaspoon bruised green carda

Method

Bring 2 litres (8 cups) water to the boil in a large saucepan. Drain any excess water from the rice, rinse under cold running water until the water runs clear, then add to the boiling water with <