The other day I was busy flipping channels while doing my tread mill and I saw this recipe for Spanish paella on the food channel. As our family is going on a Spain holiday this December, I was very interested! Turns out paella is a basic Spanish rice dish very popular made with rice and vegetables like cabbage, cauliflower and spinach or chicken, rabbit or duck meat or seafood like fish, shrimp, lobsters, mussels and oysters. Then there is also the mixed paella, which has any kind of meat, seafood and vegetables and sometimes even beans.
We were in Italy in 2009 when I first came across the authentic risotto. Risotto is basically an Italian rice dish made with meat, vegetable or chicken broth and topped with cheese, butter, onion and mild spices.
Pilaf or pulao as it is commonly known in India is a rice dish that originated in Persia (now Iran). It is usually made with lamb, chicken, beef or some kind of vegetable.
The famous biryani is another rice dish that is often layered with rice and meat, vegetables, fish or even eggs. It is made in many different countries of the world today –India, Pakistan, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Singapore, Srilanka, Philippines, Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan.
In India, there is a dish called khichdi or khichri which again is a rice dish made with rice and some kind of lentil or dal. It is a food that can be easily digested and is often given to old people or those who are sick.
Look at how many different recipes can be made with using only rice as the main ingredient! I’m sure there are many more rice dishes like this world over, it’s only when we get to know about it that we learn it’s so similar to what we make in our own homes!