I’m in love with this recipe. Just know that. If you make it exactly as I specify here, you may love it, too.
1 & 1/2 cup basmati rice
3 & 1/4 cup water
1 tsp table salt
pinch of black pepper
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 tsp garlic powder
4 oz vermicelli (approximately 1 cup)
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
pinch of allspice
Place your rice in a bowl, cover it by two inches. Set it aside for about 5 minutes. In another pot, bring your water to boil. In a skillet, melt a tbsp of butter and toss in the vermicelli on medium heat (maybe 6/10) until it’s a golden brown. Because the pasta isn’t cooked, it’ll brown quickly and may actually appear burnt, but it isn’t. That’s okay. Once it reaches that color, take the vermicelli out and set it aside.
Take the rice out of the soaking water and toss it into the boiling water. Don’t pour the old water into the new water, though. Add the additional butter to the skillet and toss in your spices. Add both the rice (don’t toss out the water!) and the vermicelli at this point, turn the heat up to approximately 7 or 8/10, and stir it up to get the rice coated in the seasonings properly. Pour the boiling water from the rice into the skillet and cook the rice and vermicelli together. From here, it takes about 10 minutes for the boiling water to cook the rice and vermicelli mixture… and ta-da!
