How to Make Festive Buttery Bejeweled Rice
November 26, 2020. Thanksgiving Day. Festive Buttery Bejeweled Rice.
Jump to RecipeI discovered this gorgeous festive dish last year when I read the November 2019 copy of Bon Appetit magazine. On page 92 the magazine had an article on how to add something new to the table. It was perfect timing since I was looking to add more color and variety to my holiday table. My family loved it so much, I made it for both Thanksgiving AND Christmas that year.
This dish is flavorful and full of delicious bits of things that we love. It also added a much needed vegetarian option to my holiday menu. The dish is so colorfully festive it really stands on its own next to the protein centerpieces of my holiday table. Yet, this lovely rice based dish also complement them in a lovely way.
This Buttery Bejeweled Rice will continue to stay on my holiday menu for future celebrations. It has the wow factor, tastes delicious and best of all, easily customizable to suit. I made it again for our Thanksgiving meal this year with some minor tweaks, which I have captured in the recipe below.
Along the theme of festive, please check out these festive butter rolls, this quick and easy bourbon pumpkin pie, and this fruit laden holiday Dundee Cake!
Rice, spices and such
For this dish, I like to use a long grain rice like Basmati or Jasmine. I have used both types and they would work well for this recipe.
At first glance, it looks like the golden color rice was infused with saffron. But the beautiful color is actually from turmeric as well from the melted butter that was used to lightly cook the tasty carrot coins. Added to that are ground cardamom, cinnamon and red pepper flakes. The rice itself is extremely aromatic and flavorful.
Now top that with all the prepared toasted nuts, plumped up dried fruits, lightly sweetened carrot coins and plenty of fresh sliced green onions! Yum, right?!
Ingredients for Festive Buttery Bejeweled Rice
Listing items roughly in the sequence in which it will be used:
½ cup almonds, skin removed, lightly toasted
½ cup pistachios, shelled, lightly toasted
8 stalks scallions/ green onions
12 Tbsp. unsalted butter divided
5 large carrots, peeled and sliced thinly
2 tsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. kosher salt
5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
3 cups long-grain rice, rinsed
¾ tsp. ground cardamom
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
¾ tsp. ground turmeric
½ cup dried apricot, sliced
½ cup dried cranberries, unsweetened
¼ cup dried raisins
This dish is all prepared on a stove top and doesn’t need any special equipment. To cook the rice, I used a large deep pan with a lid. To prepare and rehydrate the dried fruits, I used a small skillet.
Preparing for the Festive Buttery Bejeweled Rice
As always, I like to start by gathering all the ingredients. This is a lesson I’ve learned from the past to prevent any last minute “oh no! I forgot that” situation. Been there done it and don’t want a repeat. Lol.
First sort and lightly toast the nuts and set aside. Feel free to use store bought almonds and pistachios that are already toasted to save time. If you want to use raw almond and pistachios, do the following:
For almond, soak shelled almonds in hot water for 10 minutes. Drain and pinch off the skin. Gently split almonds in half. Put in toaster oven or heat up oven to 350°F(176°C) and bake for 3 minutes. For pistachios, put shelled pistachios in oven 350°F(176°C) and bake for 6 to 7 minutes until lightly browned.
Next, thinly slice the scallions; separate the dark green parts from the white and pale green part. Set aside.
Rinse rice until water runs clear, drain and set aside. Prep and slice the garlic cloves. Set aside.
Items prepared
Melt 3 Tbsp. butter in a large heavy pot/deep pan over medium heat. Add carrots and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened without browning, 10–12 minutes. Stir in sugar and a pinch of salt and cook, until sugar dissolves. Stir well to coat the carrot slices. Transfer carrots to a bowl and set aside.
Cooking the Rice
Melt another 4 Tbsp. butter in the same pot over medium. Add garlic and reserved pale green and white parts of scallions and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened about 5 minutes. Stir in rice, cardamom, cinnamon, red pepper flakes, and turmeric and mix well until some grains are translucent, about 3 minutes. Add 1 Tbsp. salt and 3¾ cups water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer, cover pot and cook until rice is soft, 25–30 minutes. Remove pot from heat; let rice sit for 10 minutes with lid on.
Plumping up the Dried Fruits
Melt 2 Tbsp. butter in a small fry pan/skillet. Add dried fruits and cook, stirring often, until fruit is plumped and softened, about 4 minutes. Set aside.
Note: I used dried apricot, cranberries and raisin. The apricots were really moist, so I just sliced them and did not have to plump them up. These are the similar dried fruits used to make my Holiday Dundee Cake and Christmas Mince Pies.
Assembling the Festive Buttery Bejeweled Rice
Add remaining 3 Tbsp. butter to rice. Mix well and fluff with a fork. Carefully spoon rice onto a large serving platter.
Arranging the goodies on top of the buttery rice
Arrange the prepared fruits, nuts, carrots and sliced scallion greens in rows on top of rice and serve!
Postscript
I was reading about the different types of rice dishes from around the world. This article was particularly interesting => https://spoonuniversity.com/lifestyle/around-the-world-in-21-traditional-rice-dishes
A few dishes are familiar like Jambalaya, Malaysian nasi goreng, Spanish paella, Arroz con Pollo, Iranian Tahdiq, Italian risotto, Chinese fried rice, Japanese sushi but there are so many rice dishes that are new to me and sounds delicious. For example, the Afghan Kabuli Pulao, Belgian Rice Pie Rijsttaart, Ghanian Jollof Rice, Danish Risalamandejust Rice Pudding just to name a few. So many dishes to try, so little time!
Festive Buttery Bejeweled Rice
Equipment
- Large pot or deep pan with lid
- Small skillet/fry pan
Ingredients
- ½ cup almonds, skin removed, lightly toasted
- ½ cup pistachios, shelled, lightly toasted
- 8 stalks scallions/ green onions
- 12 Tbsp. unsalted butter divided
- 5 large carrots, peeled and sliced thinly
- 2 tsp. sugar
- 1 Tbsp. kosher salt
- 5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 3 cups long-grain rice, rinsed
- ¾ tsp. ground cardamom
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
- ¾ tsp. ground turmeric
- ½ cup dried apricot, sliced
- ½ cup dried cranberries, unsweetened
- ¼ cup dried raisins
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients. Sort and lightly toast the nuts* and set aside. Thinly slice the scallions; separate the dark green parts from the white and pale green part. Rinse rice until water runs clear, drain and set aside. Prep and slice the garlic cloves.
- Melt 3 Tbsp. butter in a large heavy pot/deep pan over medium heat. Add carrots and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened without browning, 10–12 minutes. Stir in sugar and a pinch of salt and cook, until sugar dissolves. Stir well to coat the carrot slices. Transfer carrots to a bowl and set aside.
- Melt another 4 Tbsp. butter in the same pot over medium. Add garlic and reserved pale green and white parts of scallions and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened about 5 minutes. Stir in rice, cardamom, cinnamon, red pepper flakes, and turmeric and mix well until some grains are translucent, about 3 minutes. Add 1 Tbsp. salt and 3¾ cups water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer, cover pot and cook until rice is soft, 25–30 minutes. Remove pot from heat; let rice sit for 10 minutes with lid on.
- Prepare the fruits when the rice is cooking. Melt 2 Tbsp. butter in a small fry pan/skillet. Add dried fruits and cook, stirring often, until fruit is plumped and softened, about 4 minutes. Set aside.
- Add remaining 3 Tbsp. butter to rice. Mix well and fluff with a fork. Carefully spoon rice onto a large serving platter. Arrange the prepared fruits, nuts, carrots and sliced scallion greens in rows on top of rice and serve!