Arroz con Panela en Arroceras - Gur Wale Chawal

Ingredientes

• 1 cup aged, long-grain basmati rice
• 2 cups filtered water (divided)
• 1.5 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 tbsp ghee
• 5-6 green cardamom pods
• 1 medium bay leaf
• 185 grams jaggery (gur) (broken up into chunks - See Note 1 on how to break)
• malai/cream, British double cream, or crème fraiche (for serving (optional))
• nuts such as cashews/slivered almonds or raisins (for garnish (optional))

Preparación

1. 1

   Place rice in a medium-sized bowl and fill with water. Use your hand to swirl the rice around gently until the water becomes murky. Tip the bowl to take out the excess water and repeat until the water runs clear. Strain it and place it in a rice cooker with 1 3/4 cups of filtered water. Choose Normal (Regular/Sushi) Rice setting.

2. 2

   Halfway through cooking the rice, start the jaggery melting process. Heat a saucepan over medium heat and add butter, ghee, cardamom pods, and bay leaf. When the butter and ghee melt (be careful not to let the butter brown), add the remaining 1/4 cup of water along with the jaggery. Let it simmer while stirring to melt all the chunks, 4-5 minutes. Once the jaggery has melted and most of the water moisture has evaporated, remove it from heat and set aside.

3. 3

   When the rice is about 3/4th done and heavy steam starts escaping from the rice cooker (See Note 2), open the lid and add the jaggery syrup to the rice cooker. Stir carefully to coat the rice in the syrup. Close the rice cooker again, letting it finish cooking the rice.

4. 4

   After the rice has finished cooking, let the rice rest for 10 minutes before serving. If you feel that the jaggery still hasn't completely melted into the rice, close the lid and let it rest up to an hour. (See Note 3) Serve with any garnishing of choice. I like to eat it plain with some crème (malai) or British double cream (if you can find it) on the side.