Before we get to today’s recipe, I am excited to share something with you guys. It’s a GIVEAWAY! The very first one on this blog!!
Last month, the good folks at Nourish Books sent me a hot-off-the-press copy of the latest cookbook by Nisha Katona. It is called Pimp My Rice, and rightly so! It supposedly has everything one could do with rice, and then some. So, does the actual book live up to the claim? Read on for my review, a recipe review and the grand finale – a chance to win this book for yourself.
Nisha Katona, a British Indian curry evangelist is a celebrity in her own right. A proponent of the now-famous ‘curry in a hurry’ philosophy, Nisha stays true to her Indian roots, while spreading her culinary wings across various global cuisines.
Her latest book, Pimp My Rice, stays true to her philosophy of soulful comfort food, all the while keeping in mind the busy modern home cook. The book covers the basics of cooking rice and introduces the many different varieties of rice found around the world. There are rice recipes for every meal, bringing you cozy breakfasts in the morning, nourishing you with light fantastics for lunch and snacks, and taking you all the way to delicious mains and luscious desserts.
If you are like me and eat with your eyes first, the book doesn’t disappoint at all. The pages are of excellent quality with beautiful pictures and an easy-to-read layout.
There is something for everyone in this book. It doesn’t matter if you have fifteen minutes or fifty, you will find a recipe that suits you. You will find recipes for porridges and congees, crepes and fritters, soups and appetizers, biryanis and lasagna, puddings and even cakes. Nisha has cleverly incorporated rice as the star ingredient in many traditional dishes which otherwise rely on wheat based products.
I was immensely drawn to her colorful meat recipes and unctuous one-pot creations. But fear not, she has enough fare for vegetarians and vegans as well. The recipe inspirations range from Indian to Greek to Japanese to Hungarian. As a South Indian, I pride myself on my ability to use rice in its various incarnations, but I never imagined there was so much more to rice that I had yet to learn! I am excited to try the nasi goreng, tea steeped chickpea pot, boozy claypot chicken, coconut spiced rice omelette, pear and almond rice flour tart, black rice and coconut sorbet, and many more.
So, how does the book stack up?
Pros:
- Lovely layout, easy-to-read, well-indexed.
- A very useful section about the different varieties of rice and methods of cooking rice are included.
- The recipes cover a wide range of cuisines, and include recipes for breakfast till dinner, also non-vegetarian and vegetarian recipes.
- A good range of short as well as long recipes for everyday meals and party recipes.
Cons:
- Like many cookbook, not every recipe has an accompanying picture. These are mostly easy, common recipes like the soup recipe I have featured here. It is not that much of an issue since the instructions are well-written.
Since I didn’t want to write a blog post without a recipe, here is an adaptation of the classic Greek avgolemono soup.
I have tried this soup with the traditional arborio rice or even orzo pasta, but the following recipe tells you to use any long-grain white rice. I used basmati rice which cooks very fast and adds a wonderful aroma to the soup. The soup comes together in a snap with just a few common pantry essentials like eggs and lemons.
Once the rice is cooked al-dente in the chicken stock, you simply temper the beaten egg yolks and stir them into the warm soup. And just like that, the runny rice soup turns into a silky, creamy concoction. The lemon and parsley are there to add freshness and cheer to this soup.
One thing I would add to the recipe is the option to add some chopped rotisserie meat or boiled chickpeas to amp up the nutritional quotient and make it a complete meal. I’ll keep that in mind the next time and have included that in the recipe notes section for your convenience.
After you read the recipe, don’ forget to enter the GIVEAWAY giving you a chance to win this cookbook for yourself! It’s as easy as leaving a comment in the comment form below.
Recipe courtesy: Pimp My Rice by Nisha Katona. Published by Nourish Books 2015
- Chicken stock - 4 cups
- Long-grain white rice - ⅓ cup, rinsed and drained (I used basmati rice)
- Egg yolks - 3, large
- Lemon juice - 2 tbsp
- Parsley leaves - 2 tbsp, chopped
- Salt and black pepper - to taste
- Cooked shredded chicken - 1 cup (optional)
- Cooked chickpeas - 1 cup (optional)
- Heat chicken stock in a large pot and bring to a boil. Add rice and reduce the heat. Simmer for 12 minutes till rice is just cooked. Remove from heat and season with salt.
- Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks and lemon juice together. Temper the yolks by adding a cupful of the hot broth and briskly whisking till smooth and frothy.
- Then slowly add the egg mixture into the soup pot and stir well. Season with more salt and black pepper.
- Serve soup warm garnished with chopped parsley leaves. Add some cooked chicken or chickpeas too while serving to make a complete meal of it.
Since it is soup season, I found it only apt to give you a soup recipe in today’s post. Do give it a try with the variations I’ve written in the recipe.
PIMP MY RICE COOKBOOK GIVEAWAY
You too can own a hardcover copy of this cookbook from Nourish Books priced at 24.95 USD. All you have to do is leave a comment below telling me if you’d like to win this book. See, it’s that simple! If you want to, go ahead and tell me all about your favorite rice recipe or some recipe you are interested to learn.
Here are the rules, just for the sake of it!
- Enter a comment in this blog post to be considered in the drawing.
- The giveaway will be open from the 5th till the 13th of Nov, open to readers from all countries.
- An online random name picker will decide the winner. The winner will be intimated via email and will have 48 hours to get back to me with their shipping address and telephone number. In case I do not hear from this person, I will draw another name.
- The cookbook will be shipped directly by the publishing house, so I will be unable to provide shipping details.
- I reserve the right to suspend this giveaway in case of any unforeseen circumstances.
Thank you for reading. Leave a comment here if you’d like to win this book. Keep your fingers crossed, and good luck to you!
Update: This giveaway is now closed. We have a winner.
Congratulations, Hilda! I will be emailing you for your shipping address.
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I am sharing this over at Fiesta Friday, FoodieFriDIY and Saucy Saturdays.
Stumbled upon your blog while reading another blog. A very interesting and eye catching blog .Really like your the pics you have posted along with the recipes and looking forward to try your recipes and also the ones is the book if I win it 🙂
Thank you, Chaitra! Good luck with the book.
What a beautiful cookbook! My rice is boooooring … like white rice, water and salt boring. A Pimp My Rice cookbook would certainly jazz things up!
Thanks for entering!
The soups looks fabulously good and the cookbook sounds great. Amazing post, Anjana. Thank you for joining FF once again – so nice to always have you. 🙂 xx
Thank you, Jhuls!
The recipe looks great – would love to add the book to my collection.
Thanks for entering, Rupal!
What an interesting soup! It sounds absolutely delicious! 🙂
It is! And quite easy to make!!
We LOVE rice. but I’m limited to different ways of cooking it. I would LOVE to pimp my rice, lol, I just love your title.
Thanks for entering, Taylor!
I would love to win this book, just for the love of rice.
Good luck, Charul!
One can never eat too much rice, or have to many rice recipes. It looks like there are a lot of new additions to my repertoire. Thanks for the chance.
Yes, rice is a universal favorite. Thanks for entering!
Thank you for bringing this book to my attention. Even if I don’t win it, I will add it to my book wish list.
Absolutely, Hilda! It’s a beautiful book.
Awesome; have been following Nisha’s work for a while now and greatly excited about this book. I am a big rice lover and hope to win this one.
It’s a good read and most of the recipes are very much doable. Good luck, Dhanya!
I LOVE the photography in that book! The colorful, rustic look is so cool!
It is a pretty one!
I would love to win this book. I basically make traditional rice recipes as sides and would like to expand my repertoire.
Thanks for entering, Diana. Good luck!
Loved the layout of the book and amazing amazing visuals … I just followed your link from the site and was pleasantly surprised at an uncluttered and a beautify page !! Congratulations on a beautifully maintained blog ..
Loved your tweak on the recipe too !!
Count me in for my shot on getting the book .. Though got a lousy luck with these draw prizes !!
But in second thought .. Good I stumbled upon this .. Please add me up in your newsletter !!
Take care and happy blogging
Thank you Dr.Rahul for your kind words. I hope you enjoy my blog space. I will add you to the email subscription and in this giveaway draw as well. Good luck!
Hi Anjana,following you on IG,nice space, visually stunning pics, being a south Indian rice is in my blood, enjoy every rice dish, but the recipe’s in this book seem to be taking rice to the next level.
Thank you, Nusrath. Good luck!
Love all your clicks and definitely dishes too. Love rice and always look for new ways to make it, so surely this book will help me a lot.
Good luck, Linsy!
Hey Anjana.You have a wonderful space and your pictures just speak for itself.First of all Congratulations on having such a wonderful blog. The book looks super cool.The reason why I would love to win this is..well honestly, I don’t own a cookbook yet….Yeah!! ..I have been food blogging for a long time and I do read a few books but I have been meaning to buy a book of my own.It would be really wonderful if I win this because my first book would be a prize to cherish. I also want to wish everyone here the very best of luck. Keep rocking Anjana !
Hi,
Thank you for the thoughtful comment. It’s indeed funny that you don’t own a cookbook, but I guess it’s not that big of a deal in the internet age. I hope you get to start your collection soon. Good luck!
Would definitely want to try all the Rice recipes from the book.. I am a big fan of your work. Reading your recipes makes me hungry. Thanks for always making it look so delicious.
Thank you for letting me know, Abhigna. I am so glad you enjoy my work. Good luck with the contest and thanks for entering!
I love making all types of rice…Arroz con pollo, Persian rice with tahdig, biryani, etc….I MUST have this!!!
Thank you for letting me know and good luck!
Hi Anjana
I got to follow your Instagram after I saw you commented on one of friends posts. I loved your profile outlay and decided to follow you. I love cooking and I feel we all live to eat. I love taking pictures of my dishes and posting it. Needless to say I’ve taken a lot of tips from your posts Abd recipes. It’s always a pleasure to see new recipes from your page.
I’ve recently started trying new recipes food photography and I feel I will benefit a lot from this book 🙂
Thank you so much for letting me know, Ramya. And you are right, we do live to eat… haha!!
Thanks for following me on IG, do consider subscribing to my blog via email to stay abreast of the latest posts and updates. Good luck with the contest!
Stumbled upon your blog today via Instagram suggested pages. Glad I did; a lovely blog and amazing photography, Anjana. And I’d love to win the book 🙂 Please count me in for the give-away. Good luck !
Thank you, Sariga. Good luck with the contest, keep your fingers crossed!
Do consider subscribing to my blog via email to stay abreast of the latest posts and updates. Thanks again 🙂
This sounds like a wonderful book and I will be trying the soup recipe this weekend! Thanks for the review and the always tasty food tips
Thank you, John. I have added your name in the drawing. Good luck!
I have subscribed to your blog posts thru’ my Gmail and I am a regular reader. Only when the stuff is about non-veg, I used to skip. Though rice is the staple food of south Indians, we do not seem to have much of a variety in rice recipes. But the by your Intro about Nisha’s cook book, I am really excited to know about various rice ideas. Thanks for sharing
Thank you, Sundar. I am so glad to know you enjoy my recipes!
And you are right, we do have a lot to learn about our staple rice. Good luck with the contest!
This book sounds super delicous!
It absolutely is, Jenna!
The book is a visual treat Anjana. I almost thought the soup bowls were placed on the book. The picture quality seems amazing 🙂
It is absolutely gorgeous! I find myself thumbing through it every now and then. I have added you to the drawing. Good luck!!