Curried Rice with Raisins and Coconut
Plus: Never steam rice again (this method is better)!
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I recently came across a recipe collection called Recipes from the Jewish Kitchens of Curaçao that got me feeling a lot of emotions. I love (loooove) adding a new book to my overcrowded cookbook shelves - particularly when it offers a glimpse into a lesser-known corner of Jewish cuisine. And I get especially starry eyed reading through community cookbooks, which are labors of love and historical treasure troves, both.
This cookbook was first published in 1982 (my edition is from 2011), and is the work of the sisterhood board at Mikvé Israel-Emanuel - a congregation that dates back to 1651(!!), and is the oldest Jewish congregation in the Western Hemisphere. I mean…what a find!
The foreword reads: “The recipes in this book are unique to the island of Curaçao…Since the Jewish families have lived on Curaçao for over 300 years, our way of cooking and our tastes have mingled with those of other groups.” The pages that follow include plenty of Caribbean-inspired dishes like skabechi (a variation on ceviche, where the fish is fried before being pickled), and sangria infused with fresh lime, which is served at the conclusion of Yom Kippur to break the fast. The book also features dishes influenced by Dutch colonial rule (like biterbal croquettes), and meat-filled pastries called pastechi, which reveal the Sephardic roots of Curaçao’s longstanding Jewish community.
The side dish pictured above, which is called “Curried Raisin Rice” in the original cookbook, is full-flavored, delightfully textured, and weeknight-simple (we’re talking 25 minutes start to finish). The curry powder is briefly toasted in oil along with the raisins, dried coconut, and sliced almonds (my addition). Then the whole jumble is scraped into the rice and folded together so the spiced-oil permeates throughout, leaving the rice glistening and golden.
Speaking of rice, did you know that it consistently turns out better when you boil it (think: pasta) instead of steam it? (I mean, aside from using a rice cooker.) Maybe you have been boiling your rice for years. If so, consider me jealous! Until a few years ago, I never quite understood how seductive rice made at home could be. I futzed around in search of the ideal water-to-rice ratio, and perfect steaming time, only to end up with gummy rice and a bottom-scorched pot.
When you boil rice instead (the technique works equally well for white or brown rice, as well as most grains that are usually steamed), the excess gelatinous starch gets poured off along with the water when you drain it. The resulting grains are fluffy, separate, and just perfect every. single. time! A couple weeks ago, I told my friend Hannah, about boiling rice. Her verdict: “miraculous,” texted in ALL CAPS for enthusiastic emphasis. Whether you’re making this Curried Rice with Raisins and Coconut, or a simple pot of rice to serve with roasted chicken or tofu, consider this miracle yours for keeps.
Curaçao’s Jewish community today is quite small - fewer than 500 people by most accounts. Still, they maintain their customs and beautiful synagogue which, according to the website, is outfit with sand-covered floors “that remind us of Moses in the desert, leading his people out of Egypt, and pay homage to those earliest Jewish settlers, who had to muffle the sounds of their footsteps and prayers when meeting in secret during the Spanish Inquisition” before fleeing to Curaçao. Honestly…goosebumps.
Curacao is officially on my list of places to travel as soon as that becomes possible. Until then, this rice is going in my regular rotation - and I hope yours too!
Curried Rice with Raisins and Coconut
Recipe adapted from Recipes from The Jewish Kitchens of Curaçao, by the Mikvé Israel-Emanuel Sisterhood.
Serves 4 to 6
1 cup (200 g) basmati rice, rinsed and drained
¼ cup (60 ml) vegetable oil
1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
⅓ (35 g) cup sliced almonds
3 tablespoons dried, unsweetened coconut
⅓ cup (50 g) black or golden raisins
2-2 1/2 teaspoons curry powder (depending on your preference)
½ teaspoon kosher salt, plus more as needed
Bring a medium pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add the rice, give it a stir, lower the heat to medium-high, and cook (uncovered!), stirring occasionally, until tender, 10-15 minutes. Drain the rice through a fine mesh sieve, discarding the water. Place the sieve (still filled with the rice you just drained) into the pot you cooked it in, and cover with a lid. Allow the rice to passively steam, off the heat, for a few minutes.
While the rice is cooking, heat the oil in a medium saucepan set over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly golden, about 10 minutes. Add the sliced almonds and dried coconut and cook until golden, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the raisins, curry powder, and salt and stir until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Taste and add more salt, if desired. Remove from the heat.
Uncover the rice and transfer to a serving bowl, fluffing gently with a fork. Use a rubber spatula to scrape the curry mixture (and any spiced oil clinging to the pan) onto the rice, reserving a couple of tablespoons of the mixture for garnishing, if you’d like. Stir to combine. If you saved some of the curry mixture for garnishing, sprinkle it over top. Serve hot.
Learn more about Curacao’s oldest synagogue here, and donate if you can to help keep this community alive and thriving!
Two things I’m loving this week.
Tiny seahorses spotted in the Hudson River. I repeat: tiny seahorses spotted in the Hudson River! Good heavens, I needed to know this news. Thank you Gothamist.
Black Table Arts This Minnesota-based arts cooperative connects art and grassroots organizing, while supporting black communities. One of their projects, Black Lines Matter, offers a writing space for black poets to connect and build community.
I have to try this rice recipe! We visited Curacao just before the pandemic. The synagogue made me cry, frankly. I had seen the tiny synagogue in Barcelona a few years earlier. The Curacao sanctuary added to my sense of how far-flung our diaspora is, how desperate so many of us have been over the centuries. As for the rice, I recall hearing Chef Sarah Moulton urging cooks to boil rice as if it were pasta. Thank you for the reminder! I seem to get a dry crust too, sadly never as delectable as the Persian rice crust.