Prawn and Salmon Pilaf

Finally cleaning out my old stash of recipes torn out of magazines, printed off from websites, and generally just collected from any old place. This one seemed worth a try - it's a Rick Stein recipe I tore out of some magazine that I've simplified by quite a lot (sorry Rick, it has to be a special occasion for me to boil prawn heads and shells and then strain stock). Also I didn't have enough prawns so hence the salmon.

Prawn and Salmon Pilaf

Ingredients

225g cooked peeled prawns
200g salmon fillets, cooked and flaked into prawn sized chunks
50g butter
1 small onion, chopped
1 small carrot, roughly chopped
1/2 tsp tomato puree
900ml chicken stock (I used stock cubes to make this)
350g basmati rice
2 small onions, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
3 cloves
3 green cardamom pods
1 cinnamon stick, broken into 4 pieces
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
salt
3 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped
300g baby plum tomatoes, halved

Method

1. Heat 25g of butter in large pan, add the first chopped onion and carrot and fry over medium heat for 6-7 minutes, until lightly browned. Add tomato puree and chicken stock, bring to the boil and simmer for 15 mins. Boil until reduced to 600 ml.

2. Rinse rice in a few changes of cold water until the water runs relatively clear. Cover with fresh water and leave to soak for 7 mins. Drain well.

3. Melt the remaining butter in a pan and add the other two chopped onions, garlic, cloves, cardamom pods, cinnamon stick, and turmeric and fry gently for 5 mins. Add the rice and stir well to coat the rice with the spicy butter. Add the stock to the pan, season with salt and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to the slightest simmer, cover with a lid and leave to simmer for 10 mins. Don't lift the lid during this time.

4. Uncover and gently stir in the peeled prawns, salmon, coriander, diced tomaties and some seasoning to taste. Re-cover and leave for 5 minutes to warm through. Spoon into a warmed serving dish and serve.