Aleister Crowley's Basmati Rice

Riz Aleister Crowley

Aleister Crowley is one of the more infamous names in history, due to his being a major figure in the history of modern day occultism and paganism, as well as the founder of Thelema. He was a member of the Order of the Golden Dawn until they kicked him out for causing trouble, and he went on to found his own movement that is still influential today. He self-published a large number of books on magick, with the most famous being the Book of the Law and Book 4. One of the nicknames given to him was "The Beast 666", though he would hardly rank as a villain in history because he never killed anyone, sacrificed virgins, or did anything like that.
In addition to his occult studies and teaching, he was also an accomplished world traveler and a pretty decent cook as well. Among his specialties were hot curry dishes, especially meant to warm up your body when traveling and mountain climbing in the Asian Himalayas. He especially enjoyed making a two-part dish called "glacier curry", which was accompanied by a much milder rice dish meant to cool your palate after eating hot curry. It seems Crowley never wrote down the recipe for this blazing hot curry, but he did make the rice dish available.
Called Riz Aleister Crowley, this basmati rice dish is easy to prepare: prepare basmati rice, then mix in the ingredients. Here we present the recipe, modified slightly to allow a larger portion to be served.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups basmati rice
  • 2 1/4 cups water
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons butter
  • 1/3 cup sultanas (a.k.a. golden raisins -- you can use regular raisins if you want)
  • 1/3 cup slivered or chopped almonds
  • 1/3 cup pistachio nuts
  • 1/2 teaspoon powdered cloves
  • 1/2 teaspoon powdered cardamom
  • About 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder (enough to colour the rice to a clear golden tint)
Cooking basmati rice is different from cooking "regular" long grain rice, such as jasmine rice. With most rice, the ratio of water to rice is 2 to 1, or 2 cups of water to each 1 cup of rice. When cooking basmati rice, reduce the water to 1.5-to-1: 1 and 1/2 cups of water for 1 cup of basmati rice.
Prepare basmati rice:
First, wash the rice. With basmati rice this is absolutely necessary. In a large bowl or medium pot, cover the rice with water, and stir with your hands for about 30 seconds. Drain most of the water and refill it, covering the rice. Stir again. Repeat this three or four times until the water is mostly clear and not cloudy, so the rice can easily be seen in the water. The water doesn't have to be crystal clear.
Drain the water from the bowl or pot. Using a spatula, add the rice to a 10 inch cast iron skillet. Mix in 2 1/4 cups of water.
Place the skillet over medium heat, uncovered, and let it heat up until the water is boiling and there is foam on the top. At this point, cover the skillet with a lid, turn the heat down to medium-low, and let the pan simmer, covered, for 10 to 12 minutes. After this time, keep the pan covered and move it off of the heat. Let the pan sit for 10 to 12 minutes.
Remove the cover. Fluff the rice, and stir in the butter until it is melted.
Add the sultanas, almonds and pistachios. Stir in cloves, cardamom, and tumeric until the rice has a golden color.
Serve with your favorite curry dish, which doesn't have to be blazing hot.

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