Here is the rice salad recipe. There are three stages - first cooking the rice, then adding a french dressing, and finally the curry dressing.
Serves 4 as a main salad-
1 tbsp oil
I medium onion, chopped
225g (8oz) long grain rice
600 ml (1 pint) stock or water (I use veggie stock powder)
50g (2oz) raisins
50g (20z) dried apricots, chopped
50g shelled walnuts, chopped (I didn't use these)
1 cinnamon stick
1 bayleaf
salt and pepper
150 ml French dressing (see below)
Heat the oil, fry the onion 5 mins. Add rice and cook 1 minute, stirring. Pour in stock or water, add raisins, apricots, walnuts (if using), cinnamon stick, bayleaf, salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer about 15 mins until rice cooked and liquid absorbed. Remove cinnamon stick and bayleaf. Stir in French dressing.
Make French dressing as follows:
2tbsp wine vinegar or lemon juice (I used white wine vinegar)
6 tbsp oil (I used olive, could use sunflower, walnut, groundnut)
salt and pepper
Pinch mustard powder (optional - I used a tiny amount of made French mustard)
Place all ingredients in a screw top jar and shake.
Finally the curry dressing -
1 tbsp oil
1 small onion, chopped finely
1 tbsp (mild) curry powder
150ml stock
1 tbsp apricot jam ( I used the no bits kind)
I tsp lemon juice
150 ml mayonnaise
150 ml plain yoghurt
Heat oil, fry onion gently 5 minutes till softened.Add curry powder and cook for 2 minutes, stirring continuously. Stir in stock and bring to boil. Add apricot jam and lemon juice and simmer for 5 minutes. Leave to cool. Stir the mayonnaise and yoghurt into the cold curry sauce. Mix well and add salt and pepper to taste.
In the book I got the recipe from (an ancient Marks and Sparks cook book) it suggests pressing the rice into a 1.2 litre ring mould while it is still hot and leaving it to cool. When you turn the rice onto a serving plate put cold chicken covered in the curry dressing in the centre of the ring. Sprinkle with paprika.
I don't know what it is about that rice dish that makes it so nice. Today I made some for dd's nursery Christmas party and all the adults who tried it wanted the recipe.
Happy Christmas!