Rice With Dates (arabian Peninsula)

Total Time: 1 hr Cook Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 1 cup rice (i used basmati)
• 2 1/4 cups water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 5 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds
• 1/3 cup dates, cut into small pieces (run a knife under hot water to make slicing easier)
• 2 tablespoons raisins
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (or 1/2 of one small whole cinnamon stick)
• 1 pinch ground cloves

Recipe

• 1 place the rice in a heatproof bowl and cover with boiling water. let stand 30 minutes to 1 hour then drain in a fine mesh strainer.
• 2 place the drained rice in a pot with *2 cups* of water and bring to the boil then cover and simmer on low for 10 minutes.
• 3 in the meantime, melt 3 tablespoons butter in a small pan and cook the almonds until starting to brown, stirring often.
• 4 stir in the dates, raisins, ground cinnamon or cinnamon stick and cloves.
• 5 turn heat down to low and cook covered for 15 minutes or until the mixture is soft and gooey, stirring often. (do not overcook or let dry out.).
• 6 after the rice has cooked 10 minutes, remove the pot from the burner without taking off the lid and let stand for 15 minutes.
• 7 drain the rice in a strainer under warm water and then place half of the rice back in the pot, flattening and spreading it around evenly.
• 8 dot the first layer of rice with 1 tablespoon of butter.
• 9 now arrange the cooked almond-date mixture over the rice, spreading it around and flattening with a spatula. spoon the rest of the rice on top, again spreading it around and flattening the top then dot with 1 tablespoons of butter.
• 10 invert a heatproof plate on top of the rice or as i did-fold up a tea towel and place it on top of the pot. cover the pot with the lid and cook on very low heat for 15 minutes.
• 11 after 15 minutes of cooking, remove the pot (but keep the lid on the pot!) to another burner and set aside for another 15 minutes.
• 12 invert the pot of rice onto a serving platter.
• 13 serve hot.