This pilau rice seasoning is my one jar solution to easily making flavour infused pilau rice at home. Colourful and tasty, it’s a store cupboard essential if you regularly cook Indian fakeaway at home.
Pilau rice seasoning
Make making homemade pilau rice easy with this one jar pilau rice seasoning that will add both colour and flavour to your rice.
I regularly cook Indian fakeaways at home, and even if we order in or have a supermarket curry, I will nearly always make my own pilau rice to go with it. It’s a super simple and easy recipe which I can make in the time it takes a delivery to arrive, or for a ready-made curry to heat up.
See also
- Mediterranean seasoning is a wonderfully versatile herb-based mix
- Fry seasoning is the perfect accompaniment for homemade french fries
- Taco seasoning makes taco Tuesdays quick and delicious
- If you love to experiment with flavour here are all my seasoning blend recipes
I vary my pilau rice most times I cook it, adding at least 4-5 spices. This seasoning blend means that all that delicious flavour is available in one jar, meaning no more hunting through the spice cupboard for everything you need ever time you make rice.
What I love about making seasoning blends is that it makes it easy to make a complex mix, with hints of flavours, which is nigh on impossible to replicate on a dish by dish basis as you can’t measure a tiny quantity accurately.
I often add whole spices such as cardamon pods, a bay leaf, cinnamon stick or cloves to my pilau rice and remove to serve. Here they are all ground into the seasoning blend – making it a true one stop shop!
Why make homemade Pilau rice seasoning
- Homemade seasoning blends make life easier for the everyday cook, offering a one jar solution for flavouring your favourite dish.
- Having your own blend makes it easy to customize to your taste.
- Your own pre-prepared blend means that you’re sure you like the particular balance of spices and herbs. There’s no danger of overwhelming a dish with one particular spice.
- I love anything that makes it super easy to cook at home – homemade is so often cheaper, tastier, and better quality than ready made – with this seasoning you will be able to easily make delicious pilau rice every time you order Indian
Pilau rice seasoning ingredients
- Turmeric – Also commonly known as haldi, in North India, it adds an earthy richness, and well as that glorious golden colour. It is also amazingly good for you, long used in traditional medicine, with modern medicine increasingly taking notice. Turmeric is potent antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimutagenic, antimicrobial, and anticancer agent. (Reference).
- Garlic Granules – I far prefer the more granular golden garlic granules to the white garlic powder, which I think is far more one dimensional.
- Black Pepper – Freshly ground
- Sea Salt – Acts a flavour enhancer for the rice. You can leave it out if worried about your salt consumption.
- Cardamon – I regular cook using cardamon pods, which I remove at the end of cooking. However they do not taste great if you accidently leave one behind and crunch it, so I’ve used powdered here. You can use the seeds from half a dozen pods if you do not have ground
- Cinnamon – Adds some warming spice to the mix. I have used just a little ground here. You can also use a small piece of stick or cassia bark.
- Bay leaves – Adds a lovely rich savoury herbal flavour, I often add a whole bay leaf to many dishes whilst cooking then remove to serve.
- Cloves – These add another dimension of flavour and pair so well with everything else. Again i often add whole cloves to a dish and then remove to serve.
How to make pilau rice seasoning
Before you start, read these step-by-step instructions, with photos, hints and tips so you can make this recipe perfectly every time.
Scroll down for the recipe card with quantities and more tips at the bottom of the page.
Step One – Add everything to a spice / coffee grinder or mini food processor.
Whizz until the bay leaves and cloves have been ground to a powder.
Transfer to an airtight storage jar
Helen’s Pro Tip
I use a jam funnel when filling the jar to avoid any spills.
Seal tightly and store in a cool, dark place. Label and date.
How to use your pilau rice seasoning
I like to use 1- 2 tsp of the blend per cup (220g) of rice. The depth of flavour of spices can vary enormously depending on brand and freshness, so always start with less the first time you make this.
- You can also use this pilau seasoning when roasting vegetables such as potato wedges, butternut squash or swede.
Storage
Store your homemade pilau rice seasoning sealed in an airtight jar in a cool, dark cupboard.
Your ‘best before’ date will be the shortest date of out of all the herbs and spices you used, so make a note of this.
Although ‘best before’ is a guide, it doesn’t mean you have to throw your mix away. If you keep it over the best before date, the flavour fades, so just use a little more.
Hints and tips
- Label the jar with the shortest ‘best before’ date from the ingredients
- Shake the jar or stir the contents before using as they can settle
Variations
- You could add some ground coriander seeds or cumin
- Leave out the salt altogether if you are paying attention to your sodium levels
FAQs
If you have a cupboard full of spices then you will almost certainly have most of the ingredients for this already. So yes – as you will be using ingredients that you already have.
Homemade is always better because you can adjust to recipe to make it taste just as you like. Also there are no additives in a homemade blend.
It’s gluten free and vegan, as you would expect. This is one of the great benefits of making your own blends, as there are no hidden oddities in the mix.
More seasoning blends
- Chilli seasoning for the perfect warming bowl of chilli con carne
- Berbere is a delicious seasoning blend from East Africa, based around a mix including dried chillies, cardamon, coriander seeds, turmeric and smoked paprika.
- Shish kebab seasoning – a one jar blend for delicious kebabs.
Pilau Rice Seasoning
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp turmeric
- 1 tbsp garlic granules
- 1 tbsp sea salt
- 1 tbsp black pepper
- ½ tsp cardamon (1)
- ½ tsp cinnamon powder (2)
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 cloves
Instructions
- Put all the ingredients in a spice / coffee grinder, or mini food processor.2 tbsp turmeric, 1 tbsp garlic granules, 1 tbsp sea salt, 1 tbsp black pepper, ½ tsp cardamon, ½ tsp cinnamon powder, 2 bay leaves, 4 cloves
- Pulse / mix briefly until well combined.
- Transfer to an airtight storage jar (I usually use a jam funnel to stop anything spilling). Seal and store in the spice drawer / cupboard.
Notes
- Cardamon – I regularly cook using cardamon pods, which I remove at the end of cooking. However they do not taste great if you accidentally leave one behind and crunch it, so I’ve used powdered here. You can use the seeds from half a dozen pods if you do not have ground.
- Cinnamon – you can use a small piece of stick here, or a small piece of cassia.
- Shake the sealed jar before using for an even distribution of ingredients.
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