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Turkish Pilau

A pilau, as really served in Turkey and Arabia, consists simply of rice boiled as for curry so that the grains are kept entire, mixed with a little butter, and seasoned with pepper and salt, then laid upon a dish, and stewed meat placed upon it. For Western use, a pilan is very good prepared as follows. Roast a rabbit a chicken, or two or three pounds of mutton; when the meat is sufficiently cooked cut it into neat pieces convenient for serving, and put these aside until wanted. Put the bones and trimmings into a saucepan with two ounces of lean ham cut into dice, or a little blanched bacon-rind, a sprig of thyme, an onion stuck with two cloves, a small carrot, half a dozen peppercorns, and a pint of stock or water. Simmer the liquor gently, and skim carefully until it is pleasantly flavoured and considerably reduced. Add some salt if required. Wash one pound of Patna rice, throw it into boiling water for five minutes, drain it, dry it in a cloth, put it into a clean saucepan with a quarter of a pound of fresh butter, and stir it about over a gentle fire until it is lightly and equally coloured. Pour over it a pint and a half of stock, and let it simmer very gently until it has entirely absorbed the liquor, and is quite tender and dry without the grains being broken. Throw in a little salt and white pepper and a tea-spoonful of curry-powder, and stir lightly with a fork to separate the grains. Pile it at once high on a dish, and place upon it the slices of meat which, a few minutes previously, have been heated but not boiled in the sauce made from the bones, etc. If a fowl has been used for the pilau, a table-spoonful of stewed sultana raisins may be placed on the top before serving. Time, about three-quarters of an hour to boil the rice. Probable cost, 4s. Sufficient for five or six persons.