Clams Pulao Rice

Rice cooked in a seasoned broth can be called many names. It only depends which part of the world you come from. You can call it Pulao, pilaf, pilav, pilau, palaw, plov, polo, polu and polov. Goan Pulao Rice is also called as Arroz de Refogado and in my case Mama Arroz. The basic recipe is made with cloves, cinnamon stick, dried cinnamon leaf, onions, tomatoes, pinch of turmeric and bouillon/maggi cube for flavor. This recipe can be used as a basic base for all the other Goan Pulao Recipes. Like clams/tissreo pulao, vegetable pulao, prawn pulao and the famous Goan pork sausages pulao.

As I searched the web I found many variations, some added color to the rice, bay-leaf, cardamoms, ginger-garlic paste and chillies and since I have mentioned many times about Pulao in my blog it was time for me to share the recipe.

Do Note: Goans use bouillons/cubes to season our pulao rice. If you do use stock then you can skip the bouillons.

Serving Size: 4-6

Ingredients for Basic Goan Pulao Rice

2 cups basmati rice or rice of your choice

3.5-4  cups of water/stock

1 medium onion chopped

2 tomatoes chopped

1/8-1/4 tsp of turmeric powder

1 cinnamon stick

10-12 whole cloves

2 chicken or vegetarian bouillon or maggi cubes

salt to taste

Directions:

Wash and rinse the rice. Keep aside

Heat oil in a pot add the cinnamon, cloves to flavor the oil. Next add the chopped onions and saute till translucent. Follow with the chopped tomatoes, turmeric and saute till the tomatoes are soft.

Next add the water, bouillon and season with salt. Bring the water to a boil.

Add the washed rice, cover and cook as per the rice cooking instructions.

You can serve the Pulao Rice with any side of your choice or eat it just plain.

Below are a few variations.

For Vegetable Pulao, saute the frozen or cut vegetables along with the tomato. Follow the remaining instructions as above.

Clam/ Tissreo Pulao Rice.

Soak about 1/2 a bag of clams (I have used Costco’s New Zealand cockles) for at-least 30 minutes in salt water to purge them.

Then steam the clams till they open up slightly 3-5 minutes.

Use the liquid from the steaming as the broth for your rice.

Take the meat out of the clams about a cup and add them midway to the rice.

Garnish with fresh chopped cilantro which is optional.

Goan Pork Sausage Pulao.

Fry the sausages first. Separate the meat from the casing and use the rendered fat instead of the oil for cooking the Pulao Rice.

Follow the above instructions to cook the rice. Once’s the rice is done add the fried sausage meat and mix gently into the cooked rice.

You can also use this basic recipe to make Quinoa. Enjoy it with Grilled Cafreal Tofu. Check out the recipe below.

Grilled Cafreal Marinated Tofu with Quinoa Pulao