Ancho Chile and Tamarind Rice Pilaf
Rice has a great reputation. It’s considered a “health” food (whatever that means), is decently affordable, and is a staple part of some of the world’s best cuisines.
On its own, however, as ubiquitous as it is, rice is kinda boring. To truly make it sing, you need to both infuse it and combine it with different flavors and textures.
One of the easiest ways to do that is via a rice pilaf. Virtually every culture has their version of a pilaf (dirty rice in the American south, paella in Spain). Basically, pilaf (which is of itself a Middle Eastern term) is a rice dish where the rice is first toasted in fat, and then liquid and vegetables are added to impart flavor as the rice is cooked.
Originally this week I was going to make homemade vegan, gluten-free pasta, but (and I should have known this), even 2 years into this quest I still haven’t quite figured it out.
So, after I once again realized my quest for vegan, gluten-free pasta had, pushed me through doors that read “abandon all hope ye who enter here,” I picked myself up and pivoted.
Side note – ok, yes, I am a bit dramatic and hyperbolic. I spent a good deal of my early days immersed in the study of a language that was on its best days pretentious and bombastic. As a result, this is how I speak. And write. If you know me in person, you’re probably nodding your head vigorously at this point, and also laughing a little. At least I didn’t break out the “this comes from the Latin……”
Anyway, I came back to this idea of a pilaf, for two reasons: first, it hearkens back to the beginning of my culinary journey (pilafs were the first things I batched cooked for myself to take to work), and thus is very nostalgic and satisfying, because I have come so far; and second, because a pilaf is something that is easy to put together in large batches (ie, for meal prep). Protein can be added easily – this particular recipe would be great with chicken, pork, beef, or tofu. It’s that versatile.
I left this one vegan to keep it versatile (and in its most basic form), choosing to add nopales (cactus palms) instead of meat, just to add something different – I got mine from the local market, and I recognize that they are not readily available around the country. They are entirely optional and the dish is just as good without it.
A note on tamarind – yes, this is pretty essential for this dish. You can get away with subbing the paste with balsamic vinegar, but it would throw off the balance of the dish some, as well as adding a very Italian flavor to a quintessential Mexican flavor profile. You can find tamarind in two forms – dried pods, or paste. My advice? Use the paste. So. Much. Easier. If you are going to use the pods (or if that is what is available to you), break the inner pods away from the hard outer shell. Soak the pods in warm water for 30 minutes. Then, scrape off the pulp from the seeds – this can be done in a number of ways, but the easiest is to rub them against a sieve over a bowl, until you get enough paste (to which you will need to add 1c warm water). You only need 1-1.5T of paste per cup of water, so 3-4 pods should suffice. Heads up – its INCREDIBLY time intensive. Also, make sure you have a big and strong enough sieve. I have neither – let me tell you it did not end well (I ended up breaking one small sieve and using my tea sieve as a backup).
I found some beautiful golden oyster mushrooms at the farmers market, and so I used those, but any type of wild mushroom will do (I don’t really like white button mushrooms, so I avoid them – you want a woody, earthy variety here to balance the acid and the heat). And type of rather neutral green will also work – I used red chard (with the ribs cut out), but you could also use kale just as easily, whatever is most available. The trick is to wilt the chard and roast the mushrooms in a separate pan, and only add them into the rice at the end – yes, I know that is generally not how a pilaf is made – that preserves the integrity of all the different flavors during the cooking process, keeping them separate, and intact, making the finished dish more interesting to eat.
On a final note, I left the tomatoes raw, just for some contrast – you certainly don’t have to, but it does provide an interesting textural change from the soft beans and rice.
Ancho Chile and Tamarind Rice Pilaf
Ingredients
For the broth
- 2 ancho chile, dried
- 4 cloves garlic
- 2 tsp salt
- 5 stems mushrooms
- 4 cups water
For the tamarind water
- 1 tbsp tamarind paste (or 3-4 dried tamarind pods, rehydrated and strained)
- 1 cup water
For the rice
- 1 medium yellow onion chopped
- 2 cups white rice
- 1 can black beans (15 oz) drained and rinsed
- 1/2 lime, juiced
- 2-4 tbsp olive oil
Vegetables
- 1 bunch red chard shredded
- 1 cup mushrooms, chopped
- 4 palms nopales (optional)
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes halved
Instructions
- Add 1T tamarind paste to 1c warm water. Mix, and set aside.
- In saucepan, combine salt, garlic, ancho chiles, 4 cups water, and mushroom stems. Bring to boil and boil until reduced to 3 cups, and bright red in color. Strain, and set broth aside.
- Chop medium yellow onion. In stock pot, saute onion in 2T olive oil, until translucent. Add rice (and additional 1T oil if needed), and stir until rice becomes fragrant.
- Add 3c ancho chile broth and 1c tamarind water to rice. Cover, and simmer until rice is cooked. Water should be just under the line of rice - do not stir - take rice off heat and keep covered for 5-10 minutes to steam and finish cooking.
- While rice is cooking, saute chard and mushrooms in pan with olive oil until wilted and just cooked. Set aside.
- Cut cherry tomatoes in half. Set aside.
- Drain and rinse black beans. Set aside.
- When water is fully absorbed, fluff rice with fork. Add beans, chard, and mushrooms. Drizzle juice of 1/2 lime over rice. Serve with tomato halves and grilled nopales.
To make nopales:
- Clean nopales by scraping off spikes and cut edges of each palm off.
- Chop into 1/2" squares.
- Boil nopales for around 5 minutes, until no longer slimy (skim foam off top).
- Transfer to saute pan with 1T olive oil and saute until brown on sides (10 minutes). Add to rice.
