Turkish Caramelised Rice Pilaf (Şehriyeli Pilav)

This traditional Turkish rice dish enhances short-grain rice with flavourful stock and caramelised flecks of orzo pasta.

Türkiye is home to a special rice variety known as ‘baldo’. This rice is adored by Turks for its slightly stickier, chewier bite and ability to absorb flavour incredibly well. For this reason, you will often see it used in pilaf dishes in Türkiye and its widely available in Turkish or Arabic supermarkets overseas. Baldo rice is actually a close descendant of Arborio (risotto) rice, and for this reason you could replace baldo with risotto rice if that’s all you’re able to find. Besides the rice, you have orzo pasta here too, which is fried in butter and olive oil until deeply caramelised. This not only adds an attractive fleck to the rice, but it also charges the rice with an intensely nutty flavour. Combined with a chicken/vegetable stock, you have a very simple rice dish to prepare that will have people begging for more - that’s a promise! Let’s go!

INGREDIENTS (serves 2-4x)

• 450g Turkish baldo rice [BEST BUY] or Arborio risotto rice

• 100g orzo pasta

• 3 tablespoons olive oil

• 50g butter

• 600ml chicken/vegetable stock

• 1.5 tsps salt

• 1/2 tsp black pepper

WALKTHROUGH

1. First, let’s wash and soak the rice. Rinse the 450g baldo/Arborio rice in a mixing bowl until lukewarm water to remove some of the starch. Leave it to soak for 20 minutes.

   

2. Once soaked, tip the rice into a sieve and allow it to drain for a few minutes.

3. Place a large pot (with a tight-fitting lid) onto medium-low heat. Add the 3 tablespoons of olive oil and 50g butter to pan and heat. Heat until the butter is melted and foamy.

   

4. Add the 100g of dried orzo and stir until the oil and butter mixture. Keeping the heat on medium-low, stir the orzo slowly but constantly until it turns a rich brown. Take care - it can burn easily!

   

   

5. Add the drained rice. Stir the rice through the hot fat and fry it gently on medium-low heat for 2 minutes.

   

   

6. Add the 600ml of chicken/vegetable stock followed by 1.5 tsps of salt and 1/2 tsp black pepper. Stir briefly. Bring the liquid to a boil, then add a tight-fitting lid and turn the heat down to the lowest setting. Leave the pot for 10 minutes on low heat.

   

   

7. After 10 minutes, turn off the heat completely. Leave the pilaf to sit for a further 15 minutes without removing the lid.

   

8. After 15 minutes, remove the lid and gently fluff the rice with a fork to add volume. Serve the rice as part of any feast, though it’s honestly quite delicious to have on its own! Enjoy!