Curried Rice Salad

Came across this recipe on a handwritten card shoved in my recipe box; have no idea of the origin (it’s in my writing, but must be 20+ years old) but have been playing with it since the rediscovery.

The Original Recipe
3 C Chicken broth
1 1/2 C uncooked brown rice
3/4 tsp salt (eliminate if canned broth)
1 tbls Asian sesame oil
2 tbls fresh lime juice
1 tbls rice wine vinegar*
2 tbls soy sauce
2 tbls rice wine vinegar* (yes, it appears twice in the ingredients list and I have no idea why)
3 tbls fruit chutney
2 tbls hot curry powder
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/2 C julienned carrot
1 tbls minced parsley
4 scallions, green part only, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tbls roasted pine nuts

Bring broth to a boil; add salt (if using) and uncooked rice. Cover, reduce heat to simmer, and cook for 45 minutes/until done.

Remove from heat and stir in sesame oil.

In large bowl, combine remaining ingredients; stir in the still-warm rice. Taste/adjust seasonings. Serve lukewarm or refrigerate until 30 minutes before serving.

Notes
Without a bunch of add-ins this is a rather dull side dish. Major palate fatigue after a couple of bites.

Definitely tastes better if refrigerated so flavors can develop.

My Variations
I usually add several cloves of minced garlic, don’t always include the carrot, use the white and green part of the scallions, substitute toasted/darker sesame oil for part of the dressing, vary the type of chutney, and end up making about 1.5 times the dressing (I eyeball that at this point). Also, I use vegetable broth in place of the chicken broth and always incorporate some of the following:

Mix-ins (not all at the same time!)
Beyond Meat Chicken Strips (sauteed, allowed to cool a bit, then diced/shredded)
Grapes (red, green, mixture), halved or quartered
Dried apricots (chopped)
Peaches (pitted and chopped - if very ripe the juice can make salad a bit soggy but flavor is good)
Diced apple (I like the tart ones)
Cherries (pitted and halved)
Plums (pitted and chopped)
Celery (chopped)
Variety of nuts (toasted and chopped - pecans are good, in addition to the pine nuts) - hold some back to sprinkle over when serving

I’m thinking this would work with other grains - I just don’t cook with them regularly enough to feel confident recommending a specific approach.

It’s a solid base recipe to play with.

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Agreed! your version is more exciting! Thanks for sharing.

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Regarding the rice vinegar appearing twice in the ingredients list, I wonder if an instruction for the first amount was left out of the recipe where the sesame oil is added, just as the rice comes off the heat. Most good potato salad recipes call for adding vinegar to the potatoes while still hot because they absorb it better that way - I assume the same holds true for rice.

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