Ricepe corner: A lightly spiced, buttery onion pilau

Let's talk rice. If I had to put my carbs in order of preference (and this is the kind of game that D and I play regularly) rice would tend to come near the bottom of the list but I love rice, I just tend to think I love bread and pasta and potatoes more. And then I eat some really nice rice and feel terrible for maligning it so. 

We had this rice with a very delicious lamb bhuna on Saturday night. I would share a picture, but I am terrible at food photography when the food is attractive, and we all know that there is nothing attractive about a plate of curry (taste aside, of course). Here is a picture of my cat instead:

She is playing in a large cardboard box here because, as any fule kno, cardboard boxes exert some sort of weird, magnetic pull on our feline friends and they tend to want to climb into them. Or, in this case, turn them into their own private fort (it was a very large box).

Anyway.

A very basic recipe (or ricepe - ha, ha) to be sure, but I like having a record of the basics. Especially side dishes - because it is attention to detail that can really make a meal. And while there is certainly nothing wrong with plain steamed rice, it's hard to get excited about.

Often, when we serve rice with a curry or a chilli, we just fork through some of D's famous green stuff (chilli and coriander chutney) which is a really quick way of taking things up a notch. But it's also nice to have a simple pilau recipe to hand to mix things up a bit - the spices are mellow and subtle and, of course, plenty of butter makes it rich and luscious.

I'm going to be honest - I think I've said this before - I just don't bother to soaking and rinsing my rice. I had a phase of doing it but I didn't really get much of a difference and it involves a) additional faff (not great for such a lazy individual) and b) being ORGANISED (which I am very much not). Hey, I know my (many and varied) limitations. Maybe I'm not doing soaking and rinsing right? 

I think this recipe originates from a blog and I can't remember which one so...apologies. I really need to remember to quote sources when I note stuff down. And, of course, Googling pilau rice doesn't really help. 

Ingredients

Tbsp vegetable oil

30g butter

Small onion, finely chopped

Tsp cumin seeds

Tsp turmeric

4 cardamom pods - lightly crushed so that the seeds are released

1/2 cinnamon stick

2 bay leaves

150g rice

225ml vegetable stock (you may need slightly more, so maybe make up 300-350 mls).

Heat the oil and half of the butter in a large pan which had a well fitting lid. Keep the heat nice and low so that when you add the onion it starts to soften and go translucent rather than colouring. Cook for around 5 minutes until soft. 

Add the dry spices and cook for a further couple of minutes until they have lost that slightly "raw" smell, then stir through the dry rice so that it is thoroughly coated in everything.

Pour in the stock. You want it to come about half a centimetre over the surface of the rice. Bring everything to a simmer and then put on the lid, turn the heat down to its lowest setting and set a 7 minute timer.

When the timer goes, turn off the heat and leave for a further 5 minutes without removing the lid.

Fluff the rice with a fork and melt through the other half of the butter. Discard the pods, stick and leaves before serving.

Foodie abroad: Gilpin Spice and Hrishi

Why yes, this does appear to have turned into an eating out blog. I am going to continue to maintain that it is just over excitement after months of captivity lockdown. And, also, we want to pump money into the catering industry. And, also, greed.

But for once there was an actual occasion at home - my beloved D's birthday (no, the beloved is not ironic. Stop laughing). And we booked a two night stay at The Gilpin, a gorgeous country house hotel situated just outside Bowness, way back at the beginning of the year. A different time, when booking a hotel and a restaurant still seemed like an odd (or certainly optimistic) thing to do. We actually stayed there before, many, many, years ago, back when it was called Gilpin Lodge and the restaurant produced the kind of lovely, elegant, slightly unassuming food served in many a country house hotel up and down the country. And very nice it was too. But it's had a bit of a revamp since then and now boasts two restaurants: Hrishi, the Michelin starred flagship, and Gilpin Spice.

The current head chef, Hrishikesh Desai, was apparently recruited via a BBC 2 programme. Although that is not to say that he is a wannabe Masterchef contestant - this chap's CV is STELLAR. An adjective which could certainly be applied to the food that he is producing through both of his outlets. 

Gilpin Spice first - we first read about this in a Jay Rayner review and have been wanting to visit ever since. It is fusion food as it should be - which is to say that while it draws from diverse culinary influences (most notably Indian and Chinese) everything tastes as if it belongs, perfectly, indubitably, inevitably, together. D was obsessed by the pani puri, tiny crispy cups filled with chickpeas and spice and tamarind:

Whereas for me, I couldn't decide whether the torched salmon in a delicate sauce of coconut and mustard seeds and turmeric was the star of the show:

Or the fabulous Singapore Paneer fry which saw the bouncy paneer thriving in a slightly sweet, slightly chilli-hot sauce alongside lots of crunchy vegetable friends. I want to re-create this at home.

Minor gripes: it's quite difficult to order the right amount of food, which is often a problem with restaurants that do sharing plates. We had two snacks, two small sharing plates and then two large sharing plates with another small plate (aloo tikki: delicious crisp-fried balls of spiced potato) in lieu of a side. This was about in line with what they recommended and it felt like too much. A pork belly large plate was just too big a portion which is not something that I say very often when it comes to pork belly. It's a shame, as it meant skipping dessert. Another thing that I do not say very often.

Also, I can't comment much on the restaurant interior because we were seated in a side room away from the main dining area and open kitchen. We felt a bit out of the way, which I am sure was not the intention; many people would have preferred the intimate space. But if I were to go again, I'd want a seat closer to the action. 

The following day we (wo)manfully managed a light breakfast but then made a tactical decision to eschew food for the rest of the day which I would recommend if you are foolish brave enough to try and tackle both restaurants in a single trip. Especially if, like us, you decide to spend most of Saturday reading and drinking coffee in the hotel lounge rather than yomping up hills. Look, it was raining, and in my wing backed arm chair, novel in one hand and delicate china in the other, I felt like a character in an Agatha Christie novel. 

Hrishi is, basically, a cross between Gilpin Spice and the aforementioned unassuming country house hotel fare. It was beautifully presented, very refined but with hints of spice and fusion creeping in, sometimes in unexpected places. Pani puri made a re-appearance, this time reimagined with cured cod, soya, honey and lime. (I suspect that D would have eaten far more of these if given the chance):

A scallop dish which served up the mollusc, both seared and ceviche, bathed in an orange, ginger and chilli dressing full of zing and allusions of spice. This was a firm favourite - I particularly loved the addition of the toasted hazelnuts and will steal this idea the next time that I cook scallops.

But the undoubted star of the show was the chicken with Chetinnad sauce and a gorgeous crispy package stuffed with leg meat, fruit and nuts. It's quite unusual to see chicken as a main course, but it rose magnificently to the occasion here, the perfect vehicle for the stunningly spiced, rich sauce, the welcome sour of the tamarind gel providing a perfect additional dimension.

I must also note here that the wine tasting menu, although costly, was one of the most interesting that we have had for a while - lots of unusual choices including a Romanian Feteasca Regala which we adored. It's never cheap to go for matching wine, and sometimes it just isn't quite worth it, but I'd definitely recommend pushing the boat out here. With the complex spicing going on in some of the dishes, it's well worth having an expert guide you on good accompaniments.

Again, the most minor of gripes: our waiter seemed genuinely put out when we asked for a cheese course. It didn't appear to be the done thing here at all. And the cheese itself was fine but not the most exciting offering in the world - I think that the restaurant has other priorities and that is fair enough. 

A fabulous two days worth of food and drink then - and all in the nicest, most civilised of settings. It's always exciting to eat the food of a chef who is creating a style that is entirely his own, and I look forward to stalking the Gilpin Spice menu and Instagram to steal ideas for dishes to recreate at home. The competition for The WW Foodie Dish of the Year (a prestigious award indeed) remains hot stuff.

Gilpin Hotel & Lake House

Crook Road

Windermere

LA23 3NE