A known fact about Lankans is that they do love their Rice. Well that might be a fact by default since Sri Lanka is an agricultural based country.  Anyway, leaving the jargon aside, Rice is a personal weakness of mine. I mean I love all (Well most) food but Rice has a very special place in my heart.

I stumbled upon this recipe on fortheloveofcooking.net.  It barely takes more than thirty minutes to conjure up and it’s full of flavor. It’s so good that it can be eaten with an accompanying dish.

Moreover after a gloomy and tiring day every bite of it soothingly nourishes the soul. Without any exaggeration, I can honestly say that this savory rice is indeed food fit for the Gods.

Ingredients

1 Cup of Uncooked Rice (Basmati)

2  1/4 Cups of Hot Water.

1 Maggie Chicken Stock Cube

1 Tbs of Butter

1 Tbs of Olive Oil

6- 8 Cloves of Garlic

Directions

Mince the Garlic Cloves.

Dilute the Chicken Cube in the hot water and set aside.

In a heavy based pan heat butter and olive oil on a medium high flame.

Add the minced garlic and sauté for a few minutes.

Then add in the uncooked rice and cook for about 5 – 8 minutes. Stir constantly.

Pour in the Chicken Stock, lower the flame, cover the pan with its lid and let the rice boil.

Once the rice has cooked, stir it and serve immediately.

Disasters, Warnings and Tips

Garnish this with some spare green onions.

I’ve read a couple of Garlic Rice recipes that substituted olive oil with vegetable oil.

2 1/4 cups of water to boil rice might be sufficient or not depending on your intuition. But 2 1/4 cups are sufficient for a thick tablet of Chicken stock.

The stock provides a salty balance to the rice.

I had this rice with devilled prawns. I had this wonderful feeling of inner peace while eating.

Taste the rice once it’s cooked and only if necessary, season with Salt.

There is something explicit about cooking garlic in butter and olive oil. The aroma seduces your senses.

To those who use rice cookers, just crush and add the stock cube to the level of water prescribed in the cooker.

For months I was hunting for the perfect Garlic Rice Recipe and I finally found it- I did a little victory jig to Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke.

Eavesdrop on your rice while the lid is closed. It can burn.

If the garlic flavor isn’t powerful enough, thickly slice a few more cloves and stir in to the boiled rice.

By Shazzana Hamid