A refreshing rice dish that may be served with vegetables, bean and split-pea dishes, and chutneys. Sometimes, I just eat it all by itself with a large green salad.

　　

Ingredients

serves 4¿6

　　2 cups basmati rice

　　1 pound medium-sized shrimp, peeled and deveined (12 ounces peeled and deveined shrimp)

　　3 cloves garlic, crushed in a garlic press

　　1 teaspoon ground cumin

　　1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

　　1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste

　　Freshly ground black pepper

　　Salt

　　3 tablespoons olive or canola oil

　　4 teaspoons lemon juice

　　1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro or parsley

　　4 cardamom pods

　　2 2/3 cups chicken stock

　　

Step 1

Wash the rice in several changes of water and drain. Cover generously with fresh water and leave to soak for 30 minutes. Drain.

　　

Step 2

Halve the shrimp crossways. Sprinkle the garlic, cumin, turmeric, cayenne, black pepper, and 1/3 teaspoon salt over the shrimp and rub the seasonings in. Cover and set aside.

　　

Step 3

Pour the oil into a heavy, medium pan and set over medium-high heat. When hot, put in the shrimp and stir them around for 2–3 minutes or until they are just opaque. Remove with a slotted spoon and put in a bowl. Turn off the heat. Add the lemon juice and cilantro to the bowl of shrimp. Stir to mix and taste for balance of seasonings.

　　

Step 4

Put the cardamom and chicken stock into the pan used for cooking the shrimp and bring to a boil, scraping the bottom to release the seasonings. Add the drained rice, 1/2 teaspoon salt if the stock is salted and 1 teaspoon if it is not, and bring to a boil again. Cover tightly, turn heat to very, very low, and cook 25 minutes. Put the shrimp and accumulated juices over the top of the rice, cover quickly, and keep cooking another minute. Turn off the heat. Stir gently to mix and keep covered until needed.

　　Excerpted from At Home with Madhur Jaffrey: Simple, Delectable Dishes from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka by Madhur Jaffrey. Copyright © 2010 by Random House. Excerpted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.Buy the full book from Amazon.