Not only does this rice look colorful and taste delicious but the turmeric acts like an antiseptic inside the body and the sesame seeds add a good deal of nutrition. You can almost eat this by itself. Add a dal, perhaps an eggplant dish, and a yogurt relish, and you have a fine vegetarian meal. Or serve with kebabs of any sort and a salad for a light, non-vegetarian meal.

　　

Ingredients

serves 4¿6

　　2 cups basmati rice

　　2 tablespoons olive or canola oil

　　1 dried hot red chili

　　1 teaspoon urad dal or yellow split peas

　　1 teaspoon whole brown or yellow mustard seeds

　　1 tablespoon sesame seeds

　　1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

　　1 teaspoon salt, if desired

　　

Step 1

Put the rice in a bowl. Wash in several changes of water. Drain. Let the rice soak in water that covers it generously for 30 minutes. Drain through a sieve and leave in the sieve suspended over a bowl to drip.

　　

Step 2

Pour the oil into a heavy, medium pan (that has a tight-fitting lid) and set over medium-high heat. When hot, put in the red chili, urad dal, mustard seeds, and sesame seeds. As soon as the dal turns reddish and the mustard seeds begin to pop, add the drained rice, turmeric, and salt. Turn the heat down to medium. Stir very gently and sauté for a minute. Add 2 2/3 cups water and bring to a boil. Cover tightly, turn heat to very, very low, and simmer gently for 25 minutes.

　　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.