I absolutely adore the nuttiness that Black rice exudes. The fragrance is woody, the taste nutty. I do not even want to discuss the gorgeous purple colour it lends. I have written somewhere before that this forbidden rice contains the same pigment that Blueberries and Brinjals contain and hence the exotic colour. I am sharing a recipe borrowed from the kitchens of Manipur. I have added a little twist which does nice things to my dish.
My food word for this recipe would be nattily purple.
When you go out shopping look for;
Black rice
Coconut milk
Walnuts
Almonds
Butter
Brown sugar
White sugar
The recipe would be;
Because I was cooking for a party of thirty, I am sharing the recipe with such quantities. I used 1200 ml of coconut milk and 400 gms of black rice. I also used 50 gms each of walnuts and almonds.
Soak the Emperor’s rice or Forbidden rice for an hour a good hour. Throw the water out and wash it once. Boil in an open pan. When you have completed the boiling process your rice should be soggy but not watery.
In a pan melt 50 gms of salted butter. Add roughly chopped walnuts and almonds and keep stirring. In about thirty seconds add two tbsp brown sugar and keep stirring. This part can be done a day before. This will give you lovely salt caramelized dry fruits.
Allow the coconut milk to warm and come to a simmer. Add the rice and keep at low heat, let it simmer folding it constantly. It takes about five minutes of stirring. Take it off the heat. You can have it warm or cold. For enjoying it cold, refrigerate for an hour or so. When you serve drop in the nuts.
