This rice is full of flavour, thanks to garlic, onions and loads of tomatoes!
The last time I ate Mexican Red Rice was way back in January. It was at a vegan restaurant and it was the best one I have ever had. Ever since the lockdown went into effect, I have been craving Mexican Red Rice. Finally, I took the plunge this week to try and recreate a beautiful memory.
I learnt that Mexican Red Rice is traditionally made of long-grained white rice and is sautéed in oil and chicken broth. Of course, chicken broth was out of the question for me so I substituted it with water instead. And I chose brown basmati rice over white rice simply because that’s what I had in stock. That did result in a difference in the colour of the end product but it still tasted delicious!
The other issue I faced was that the brown basmati rice doesn’t really get cooked in the short time it is supposed to be sautéed. If I sauté it for a longer time, it gets mashed – which is a strict no-no. To ensure it gets cooked but doesn’t get mashed, I transferred the sautéed rice to my loaf pan, mixed in more water, and baked it. The end result was simply wonderful!
Mexican Red Rice (Arroz Rojo)
Serves 2
Ingredients:
100 grams brown basmati rice, uncooked
1 onion, roughly chopped
8-10 cloves of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
6 tomatoes, chopped
1/4 tsp cumin (jeera) powder
1/4 tsp black pepper powder
1/4 cup + 2 tsp oil
1/2 cup boiled peas and diced carrots
100 ml water
Salt to taste
Method:
Heat 2 tsp oil in a pan. Fry the garlic and onion for two minutes. Add tomatoes and fry for another 3-4 minutes on low flame. Set aside to cool. When cooled, grind to a fine paste.
Wash the rice 3-4 times and drain completely.
Take a heavy-bottomed pan and heat 1/4 cup oil. Add rice and sauté for 3-4 minutes on a low flame.
Add the onion-garlic-tomato-puree to the rice. Add salt and mix well. Add cumin (jeera) powder and the pepper powder and mix well.
Add water. Let the entire mixture cook for five minutes. Switch off the flame.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. (Since mine is a convection oven, I chose 150 degrees C.)
Line a baking pan with parchment paper. Transfer the rice mixture to the pan. Add some water and mix it well into the rice. Let it bake for 10 minutes.
Once it has baked, take it out and check once. If the rice is still not done (mine wasn’t), then add some more water, mix it into the rice again, and let it bake for another 10 minutes.
Once it is done, mix in the boiled peas and carrots.
Serve.
“Panza llena; corazón contento (a full stomach makes for a happy heart).”
– A Mexican saying
The Vegetarians' Kitchen 