South African Yellow Rice

This fragrant, fluffy, and tasty South African yellow rice also known as geelrys is the perfect side dish!

Course Dinner, Lunch, Main Course

Cuisine African, South African

Diet Gluten Free

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 20

Total Time 25

Servings

Calories 354kcal

Properly clean the rice until the water is no longer cloudy.
In a medium-sized pot or pan, combine the rice, salt, turmeric, brown sugar, cinnamon, raisins, butter, and water then bring to a boil uncovered. Once it comes to a boil, cover, reduce the heat to low, and allow the rice to simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, or until all the water has been absorbed and the rice is fluffy.
2 cups basmati rice, 2 tablespoon butter, 1½ teaspoon turmeric, ⅓ cup golden raisins or sultanas, 1 tablespoon brown sugar , ½ teaspoon cinnamon, ½ teaspoon salt, 4¼ cups water
Once cooked, remove the pot or pan from the heat and fluff with a fork. Serve warm with bobotie or a side of your choice.

rice variety -the best variety of rice to use is basmati or white, long-grain rice. While you can still use brown rice, which obviously has more health benefits, it takes longer to cook and simply does not soak up the colour from the turmeric, as much as basmati rice does.
variations - this recipe uses raisins but feel free to substitute this for your preferred dried fruit or vegetables, such as green peas. You can also use curry powder, in place of turmeric. Just bear in mind that you will need to use double or even triple the amount of curry powder, to obtain the golden yellow colour that you would get from turmeric.
as a useful tip, cut a piece of aluminum foil around the cooking pot, once you have reduced the heat to a low. This creates a tight seal that helps steam the rice.