Goan chorizo pulao
Fragrant basmati rice cooked with spicy chorizo, golden onions, ginger and garam masala, the way Goa makes its famous sausage pulao.
- 60 min total
- 25 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $1.53 a serving
- 510 calories
- Good the next day
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1½ cups basmati rice
- 1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
- 1 tomato, chopped
- 9 oz Mexican chorizo, 1 package, casing removed
- 1 tsp garam masala
- ½ cup frozen peas
- 2 tbsp cilantro, chopped (optional)
- 1 lime, cut into wedges (optional)
From your pantry
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- ¼ tsp ground turmeric
- 2¼ cups water
- ½ tsp salt
Each serving has about 510 calories, 16 g protein, 65 g carbs and 21 g fat, and costs about $1.53 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No basmati rice? Jasmine rice or long-grain white rice works.
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No tomatoes? Roma tomatoes work.
- No frozen peas? Frozen mixed vegetables work.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
- No limes? Lemons work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the rice in a strainer until the water runs clear, then soak it in a bowl of cold water for 15 minutes and .
Rinse. Rinsing means running cold water over rice or canned beans in a strainer while you swish them around. It washes off loose starch and can liquid, so rice cooks up fluffy and beans taste clean.
How you’ll know: The water running out goes from cloudy to mostly clear; it doesn’t have to be perfect.
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
Timer: 15 min
Dolly’s tip: Soaking is what makes basmati cook up long and separate instead of broken.While it soaks, the onion, the garlic, the ginger and the tomato.
Thinly slice. Thinly slicing means cutting slices about an eighth of an inch thick, roughly two coins stacked. Thin slices cook in seconds and soften fast, which quick dishes need.
How you’ll know: A slice bends a little when you hold it by one edge, and slow, steady cuts beat fast ones.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
Grate. Grating means rubbing food across the holes of a grater to make fine shreds or flakes. It spreads cheese, garlic or ginger evenly through a dish so it melts right in.
How you’ll know: Even shreds fall off the back of the grater, and you stop while the piece is still big enough to hold.
Chop. Chopping means cutting food into bite-size pieces that don’t need to be neat. Keep them roughly the same size so everything cooks evenly.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are about half an inch and roughly alike, even if none of them are pretty.
Heat the oil in a heavy pot that has a lid over medium. Cook the onion 8 to 10 minutes, stirring often, until .
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Medium heatTimer: 9 min
Squeeze in the chorizo and cook 5 to 6 minutes, breaking it up, until there’s no pink left.
Medium heatTimer: 6 min
Dolly’s tip: Goa’s own chorizo is tangier and drier. Mexican chorizo from the meat case is the closest match at most stores.Food safety: Raw pork sausage is done at 160°F and raw chicken or turkey sausage at 165°F. Precooked sausage just needs heating until hot all the way through.
Stir in the garlic, ginger, garam masala and turmeric for 1 minute, then add the tomato and cook 3 minutes, until soft.
Medium heatTimer: 4 min
Add the drained rice and stir gently for 1 minute. Pour in the water, add the salt and peas, and bring it .
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Cover, turn the heat to low, and cook 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave the lid on for 10 minutes.
Low heatTimer: 15 min
Dolly’s tip: Don’t stir once the lid is on. Stirring breaks the long grains.Fluff the rice gently with a fork and serve with cilantro and lime wedges.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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