In case you were wondering how to cook Pakistani pilau . . .

here's a recipe! Roomie's mom has only a few more days left in her visit, so I'm trying to learn as much as I can from her about Pakistani cooking. Today was a lesson in pilau (it's delish), and here are my notes:

Roomie’s Mama's Pakistani Pulau

Ingredients:
½ pound chicken parts (we used drumsticks)
1 head garlic
1 whole red onion (medium sized)
2 ½ tsp ground black pepper
2 ½ tsp cumin seeds
3-4 whole cardamom seeds—called Ilachi here.
1 cinnamon stick
cloves
2 ½ tsp salt
2 cups basmati rice
cold water
oil

Procedures:
1. Place rice in a bowl just covered with cold water. Let soak while you cook.
2. Rinse chicken and place in medium-sized saucepan.
3. Peel the garlic cloves (leave whole).
4. Cut about ¾ of a red onion in half or into quarters. Save about a fourth of the onion, and finely chop it.
5. Add cold water to the saucepan—about double the amount of rice you’re making (about 4 or 4 ½ cups water).
6. Add spices, including enough cloves to make a circle about the size of a quarter in your palm.
7. Cover the pot most of the way, and heat until boiling (about 15 to 20 minutes).
8. When the chicken is nearly cooked, brown some finely chopped red onion in a large pot. Mrs. Hassan covers the bottom of the pot in about ¼ inch of oil, but experiment with the amount you prefer. (I find Pakistani food quite oily as a rule.) Let the chicken cook a bit more as the onion browns.
9. When the onion is golden-brown, put the chicken pieces into the large pot, and keep the heat going.
10. Take the onions and whole garlic out of the saucepan and throw them away, but keep the spices and broth cooking.
11. When the chicken starts to get darker from the onion mixture, scoop the broth from the saucepan into the large pot.
12. Drain the rice and add it to the pot.
13. Cover and cook on medium heat until the water is nearly absorbed. Then turn the heat down very low and cook for another 10 to 15 minutes, until the water is fully absorbed.

It’s ready to eat! You can eat it by itself, or use raita as a garnish (yoghurt sauce with cumin).