Serves 6-8
Ingredients:
500g jasmine / long grain white rice
1 litre chicken or vegetable stock
250g button mushrooms, sliced
1 large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp ground cumin
6 cardamom pods
5 bay leaves
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground allspice
800g medium sized portabello / brown mushrooms
Pomegranate rubies, to serve
Lightly toasted almond flakes, to serve
Fresh mint leaves, to serve
Double cream yoghurt, to serve
Olive oil, for cooking
Salt and pepper, to taste
Note: A 26cm Dutch oven ± 10 cm deep is the perfect size for this recipe.
Method:
Rinse rice well and then soak for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 200˚C.
Place portabellos on a large baking tray.
Drizzle with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Roast for ± 10 minutes, depending on their size, until tender.
Remove and place on a chopping board gills side down to drain.
Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a 26cm Dutch oven.
Add the button mushrooms and cook until golden brown.
Add the onion and cook until soft.
Add the garlic and all the spices and cook until fragrant.
Scrape the mixture out of the pot and add to a bowl.
Drain the rice and add to the bowl and mix well along with 1 tsp of salt.
Off the heat – arrange the portabellos, gills down, in the pot in a well fitting pattern.
Spoon the spiced mushroom and rice mixture over the portabellos.
Gently pour the stock into the pot.
Set a heatproof plate over the rice to keep it down.
The plate should be slightly smaller than the width of the pot.
A springform tin’s base works very well for this.
Cover the pot with the lid and cook on low heat for 30 minutes.
Remove lid and check if the rice is tender.
To serve:
Place a large, flat, serving dish on top of the pot.
Using oven gloves, flip the pot onto the dish in one quick motion.
If the rice cake does not release immediately, let the pot rest upside down for a few minutes.
Remove the pot to reveal the beautiful mushroom topped rice cake.
Scatter the top with pomegranate rubies, toasted almonds and mint leaves.
Serve with yoghurt on the side and enjoy!
