recipe carousel #26 - rice

After last week’s very successful Festive Food Fair I’m back to the regular Monday Recipe Carousel of seven unique or interesting recipes under a random theme.

This week the theme is rice.

Native to tropical and subtropical Asia and Africa, rice cultivation has spread all over the globe and it is the third largest crop in the world, after corn and wheat. It is also the most consumed cereal grain in the world with at least half of the global population eating rice daily.

Since rice is so important to so many cultures, I have dedicated this week’s Recipe Carousel to rice recipes, both recognised and refreshing.

Paella is transformed beautifully from Spain to Béa’s table in the USA (La Tartine Gourmande). Béa’s version is beautifully rustic and layered with field, mountain and sea, as any good paella should be. She uses chicken, pork and chorizo as well as mussels, squid and prawns. Capsicum (peppers), artichokes and peas add the vegetable content in this hearty main course and saffron provides the golden hue synonymous with Spain’s most famous rice dish.


Koa Mook Gai (Coconut Chicken Curry Rice) is a southern Thai dish from Appon (Appon’s Thai Food). Rich with curry powder, coconut milk and spices, this is a Muslim style meal from the area near the Malaysian border. Chicken legs are fried then cooked with coconut milk, cinnamon, curry powder and rice. The dish is served with a spicy sauce made of ginger, chilli, garlic, soy sauce and fish sauce.  

Radicchio & Taleggio Risotto is stirred up by Ilva in Italy (Lucullian Delights). She uses the elegant red leaves of radicchio di treviso in this simple, comforting risotto. As Ilva explains, radicchio is best eaten cooked or grilled and in this recipe the leaves are fried then cooked with the rice. At the end of the cooking process cubes of taleggio, a soft cow’s milk cheese (with a mild fruity flavour), are stirred through until melted.

Caribbean Peas & Rice is a hearty side dish from Patti in the USA (Adventures in Food & Wine). In this dish she uses the Caribbean’s favourite pea: the pigeon pea. Also known as the goongoo, gunga or congo pea, pigeon peas can be substituted with yellow-eyed peas or black-eyed peas if you can’t get gold of them. In this recipe, Patti fries bacon, bell peppers, onion and garlic then adds brown rice, paprika, thyme, pigeon peas and tomato paste. This is cooked until the rice is tender.


Miriyala Annam (Pepper Rice) is a spicy side dish from Sailu in India (Sailu's Food). The English word pepper is derived from the Sanskrit Pippali and black pepper is an ancient and valuable commodity which just happens to be my very favourite spice. Black peppercorns, sesame seeds and curry leaves are dry roasted before being ground into a coarse powder and then fried with ghee, mustard seeds and cumin seeds. These are then mixed through cooked long grain rice. Sailu says the aromatic flavour of curry leaves and mild nutty taste of sesame seeds are a perfect match with the volatile oils of the black pepper and she recommends serving it with any curry, plain rasam, pappadam or curds.

Riz au Lait au Chocolat (Chocolate Rice Pudding) is a French rice dessert served to us by Fanny in France (Food Beam). It is traditionally flavoured with vanilla or cinnamon, but because Fanny is a chocolate fiend she brings us this decadent version. Milk chocolate is melted through Arborio rice after it is softened with milk, sugar and vanilla beans. The dessert is then divided into individual dishes and served chilled.


Black Rice Pudding comes from Brendon in the USA (Something in Season). Black rice is slowly cooked until tender with coconut milk and palm sugar in this delicious dessert. The black glutinous rice, also known as Forbidden Rice, makes a wonderful sticky finish to any meal and Brendon adds a touch of cinnamon as his own twist to this Thai classic.

Add your own recipe!
If you want to link in your own rice recipe and share the love around, just leave the link in the comments section. You didn’t have to invent the recipe yourself, just make it and post it on your site. The whole idea of Recipe Carousel is that good recipes are shared with people who love to cook.
Note: Usual comments are more than welcome but all html links must be recipe related (yours or others).

Check out other Recipe Carousel themes: festive food, legumes/pulses, eggs, pancakes, breakfast, raw food, berries, dips, cocktails, pasta, yoghurt, crispy snacks, vegetable desserts, fruit in savoury food, made from scratch, strawberries, jam, bread, seafood mains, ice cream, soup, chocolate and drinks.

Tags: morsels and musings food blog food and drink australia recipes recipe carousel rice curry risotto paella pudding riz black rice desserts savoury main courses sides vegetarian food vegetarian recipes vegetarian cuisine vegetarian