Arroz com Passas: Brazilian Christmas Rice
The side dish that appears on every Brazilian table on the 24th: dry rice with raisins, browned onion and almonds. The raisin brings the sweetness that cuts the salt of the cod. Ready in 40 minutes.
Ingredients
- 400 g long-grain rice
- 100 g golden raisins
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 50 g flaked almonds (optional)
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 30 g butter
- 800 ml hot vegetable stock or water
- Salt and pepper
- 2 tbsp chopped parsley
Method
- 1
Cover the raisins with hot water and leave them 10 minutes while you prepare the rest. Once plumped, they stop drawing moisture out of the rice.
- 2
Toast the almonds dry in the pan until they colour, then set aside. They go in at the end so they stay crisp.
- 3
Soften the onion in the olive oil with a pinch of salt until translucent. Add the garlic and cook a minute more, without letting it colour.
- 4
Add the rice and toast it for two minutes, stirring, until the grains look glossy.
- 5
Pour in the hot stock all at once, season and bring to the boil. Turn the heat to its lowest, cover and cook for 15 minutes without lifting the lid.
- 6
Take it off the heat and let it stand covered for 5 minutes. The remaining steam finishes the grain in that time.
- 7
Drain the raisins and fold them in with the butter, loosening the rice with a fork rather than stirring with a spoon.
- 8
Finish with the almonds and the parsley on top.