Delia Smith’s spiced brown rice salad dresses warm brown basmati in a Madras curry and mustard vinaigrette, then mixes it with apple, currants, tomato, cucumber, green pepper, spring onions and pumpkin seeds, with toasted pecans and pistachios scattered on top. It serves 8 to 10 and takes about 2 hours, most of it cooking and cooling.
It’s from her Happy Christmas book (2009), where it sits among the party food, and her Christmas buffet menu puts it on the table as one of “a selection of salads” beside fillet of beef in pastry and a Stilton and Lancashire cheese terrine. The others in that line-up are her winter potato salad with a mustard dressing and a Christmas coleslaw.
Because it’s dressed and chilled well before anyone arrives, the rice takes on the curry flavour and nothing needs doing at the last minute. Every forkful brings soft, nutty grains, a warm hint of spice, sweet currants and apple, and plenty of crunch from the nuts and seeds.
Delia Smith’s Spiced Brown Rice Salad with Nuts and Seeds
Course: SaladsCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy8
servings1
hour25
minutes40
minutes265
kcalFrom Delia’s Happy Christmas (2009), page 90: brown basmati in a curried vinaigrette with fruit, crisp vegetables, pumpkin seeds, pecans and pistachios. These ingredients make a big bowl for 8 to 10 at a party.
Ingredients
- For the salad:
275ml (10fl oz) brown basmati rice, measured in a glass jug
570ml (1 pint) boiling water
1 dessertspoon olive oil
3 spring onions, chopped small, green parts included
5cm (2in) piece cucumber, chopped small, unpeeled
2 large tomatoes, skinned and chopped small
1 small green pepper, deseeded and chopped small
1 red apple, cored and chopped small, unpeeled
40g (1½oz) currants
15g (½oz) pumpkin seeds
25g (1oz) pecan nuts, roughly chopped
25g (1oz) shelled pistachio nuts
- For the dressing:
1 small clove garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon mustard powder
1 dessertspoon Madras curry powder
2 dessertspoons white wine vinegar
freshly ground black pepper
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Directions
- Simmer: Heat the oil in a medium saucepan, add the rice and stir until the grains are coated. Add some salt, pour in the boiling water and bring it up to a gentle simmer, then stir once, cover and simmer gently for about 40 minutes, until the grains are tender.
- Dressing: Meanwhile, crush the garlic with the salt in a pestle and mortar. Add the mustard, curry powder, vinegar and some pepper, work them together with a mini whisk, then whisk in the olive oil until well blended.
- Toast: Heat the grill for 10 minutes, spread the pecans on a baking tray and toast them for 2 to 3 minutes. Stay by the grill, as they burn very fast.
- Dress: Tip the cooked rice into a large salad bowl and gently fold in the dressing while it’s still warm, without breaking up the grains.
- Cool: Leave the rice until it’s quite cold, about 1 hour.
- Mix: Stir in the spring onions, cucumber, tomatoes, pepper, apple, currants and pumpkin seeds, then taste for seasoning. Scatter the pecans and pistachios over the top, cover and chill until you need it.
Notes
- To skin the tomatoes, cover them with boiling water for a minute, then slip off the skins.
- Every ingredient is plant-based, so it suits vegan guests as well as vegetarians.
- Food Standards Agency advice for cooked rice applies: cool it within about an hour, keep the salad chilled and eat it within a day.
FAQs
How far ahead can I make it for a party?
The day before, or that morning, which is what Delia has in mind when she says it needs no last-minute attention. Dressed and chilled, it only gets better as the rice takes up the spiced dressing.
Keep it covered and chilled until your guests arrive. I’d keep the pecans and pistachios in a little box and scatter them on just before serving, which is my own tweak, so they stay crunchy.
How hot is the curry dressing?
Gently warm rather than hot. A dessertspoon of Madras curry powder, a medium-hot blend, is spread through the dressing for a whole bowl of rice, so to my taste it comes across as warm rather than fiery.
If there are children at your party, a mild curry powder works in the same amount, which is my own swap. For more kick, add a pinch of cayenne to the dressing rather than extra curry powder, so the other flavours aren’t drowned out.
Can I change the nuts and seeds?
Yes, as long as you keep the crunch. Walnuts are the natural swap, since her original rice salad uses them, and sunflower seeds work instead of pumpkin seeds, which is my own suggestion.
For a guest with a nut allergy, leave out the pecans and pistachios and double the pumpkin seeds, which is my own call. Do check every pack for nut warnings too, as seeds are often packed alongside nuts.
How is it different from her original rice salad?
It’s the same rice salad dressed up for Christmas. The Delia Smith rice salad from her Complete Cookery Course uses exactly the same 275ml of brown rice, 570ml of water and 40 minutes, with apple, currants, walnuts and the same chopped vegetables.
This version adds Madras curry powder to the dressing, swaps the walnuts for pecans, pistachios and pumpkin seeds, and nearly doubles the currants. It also feeds 8 to 10 rather than 4 to 6, so it’s the one for a crowd.
