It feels like every few months there’s a new trending super food and lately I’ve been seeing Turmeric everywhere. I can’t make any claims to the many health benefits of this popular Indian spice, but I do love to cook with it! Turmeric comes from rhizome of a plant of the ginger family, and while the flavor is actually quite mild, it adds a vibrant yellow color to dishes when used in cooking. I created this rice recipe when we were developing recipes for our 2nd cook book “Savoring the Seasons“. It’s served with my Tandoori Chicken (which I’m going to share with you, next!) and they make a lovely pair! This Turmeric rice is simple enough to go with a variety of dishes; try it with just about any grilled meat for a step up from your normal rice game.
This doesn’t take much longer than making normal rice, but first you’ll saute some diced onion in olive oil.
The two spices we’re putting in here are turmeric and curry powder.
You’ll add those right to the pot with the onion and stir them around for a bit. Both the heat and the oil will enhance the flavor and bring out all the goodness in those spices. Then you can add broth and rice right to the pan and finish cooking just as usual.
The result is a vibrant, flavorful rice dish that looks as good as it tastes!
I suspect many of you will inquire about cooking this in the pressure cooker. I prefer to cook rice in a pan on the stove top because when it comes down to it, it takes just about the same amount of time. While rice cooks very quickly in a pressure cooker, the heating up and then coming down from pressure takes as long as it does on a stove top and I prefer the texture of traditionally cooked rice. That being said, if you’d like to cook it in a pressure cooker, simply use the saute function to cook the onions as the recipe states and then use a 1: 1.25 ratio of rice to liquid and cook for 4 minutes on high pressure. Let pressure naturally release for 10 minutes and then release the rest and open lid.
Indian Turmeric Rice
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1/4 cup diced onion
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup Jasmine rice traditional white rice will work as well, see notes
- kosher salt
Instructions
- Heat medium-sized pot with lid on stove top. Add oil and onion and cook until onion is tender, about 3 minutes. Add turmeric and curry powder and stir to heat and distribute for 15-30 seconds. Add broth and bring to a boil, add rice. Reduce heat to a simmer. Cover pot and cook according to package directions for your rice (see note), covered the entire time. Remove from heat, fluff with a fork and add salt to taste before serving.
Questions & Reviews
Before you follow these cooking instructions you need to look at time the rice should cook…..I have two different brands of jasmine rice with two different cooking times on each bag…..The one I used was cook for 15 minutes so the 20 minutes stated in this recipe made mine overcooked…..I would be very careful….The other rice I had said 10 – 12 minutes so different Jasmine rices have totally different cooking times…..
Does it need to be made with stock or can it be done with water like regular rice?
You could definitely make it with water if you need to, but the broth gives it a lot of flavor, so you might need some extra seasonings at the end.
Thank you for this recipe i plan to make it today, for my weekly meal prep. I plan to mix the rice with beans and mixed vegetables. I also plan to use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth to make it vegan!
Thanks for the note at the bottom regarding the Instant Pot. I prefer cooking rice that way because I never get any boil-overs.
I’ve been making this recipe for a year or so now with the tandoori chicken and your naan. Best meal ever! It’s a family favorite! Leftovers the next day are fantastic too.
This looks mouth-water-ingly (I have no idea how to spell it and I’m sure it’s not a word) delicious! I will have to try this soon!
I love Thai food so when I see recipes that call for “curry”, I usually wonder, what kind of curry? Thai has red, penang, matsaman (often spelled a variety of ways), green, and many others. India has different types of curry too but is often thought of as the “yellow” curry (at least in western countries). It’s interesting that yellow curry is a mix of other spices, usually including turmeric, so you’re getting a double dose of tumeric in this recipe 🙂
When a recipe calls for curry *powder*, it’s generally only referring to one thing- but you could certainly experiment with any style of curry paste, those would all be great! And yes, there is a little turmeric in curry powder- we’re packing it in this recipe, hence the name! haha!
I have never used Jasmine rice before, is it any different than white/converted rice? thanks
Hey Stacy! Jasmine rice has grains that are a little longer than standard white rice (which tends to be kind of short and fat). It’s also not quite as sticky. You cook both the exact same way and you could definitely use either in this recipe!