Curried Rice Salad

Recipe from The Ultimate Rice Cooker Cookbook and Tested in Alice’s Kitchen
Serves 8

This is a beautiful salad to take on a picnic or to a party. The rice and the dressing can be made in advance. My husband gives this salad an enthusiastic thumbs-up. He particularly likes the dressing, which is a bit on the sweet side. When I made this for the first time, I discovered it makes more dressing than is needed for the salad. You can save the extra dressing for another salad or put it in a pretty jar and give it as a hostess gift along with the recipe. When I retired, I gave myself a rice cooker for a present. I use it all of the time, but you don’t need a rice cooker to make this dish. Just follow the directions on the package of rice. The original recipe says you can use brown basmati rice in place of the white basmati. All of the ingredients for this delicious dish can be found at Lost River Market & Deli.

Rice
2 cups basmati rice
2 ½ cups water
½ teaspoon salt

Dressing
2 ½ teaspoons curry powder
1 Tablespoon raspberry vinegar, heated a bit in the microwave
2/3 cup mayonnaise
½ cup plain yogurt
1/3 cup sour cream
¼ cup chutney of your choice
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 Tablespoons honey

Salad
4 scallions (green onions), chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 large tart apple, peeled, cored and chopped
1 cup chopped dried apricots
1 (12 oz.) package frozen baby peas, thawed
1 cup chopped pecans or pistachios, toasted

Prepare the rice:
Wash the rice with cold water a few times until the water becomes clear then drain well. If you do not have a rice cooker, prepare the rice according to package directions. (If using a rice cooker, place the rice, water and salt in the rice cooker bowl. Swirl to combine. Close the cover and set for the regular cycle. When the machine switches to the Keep Warm cycle, let the rice steam for 10 minutes.) Fluff the rice with a wooden spoon or rice paddle. Uncover and allow the rice to cool to room temperature.

Make the dressing:
Place the curry powder in a food processor. Add the heated vinegar to dissolve the curry powder. Place the remaining dressing ingredients in a food processor and pulse a few times to combine and chop the chutney. Scrape into a bowl, cover and chill.

Assemble the salad:
In a medium-size salad bowl, combine the rice, green onions, celery, apple, apricots, peas and nuts. With a large spatula, combine the salad ingredients with enough of the dressing to lightly coat, reserving any extra dressing in the refrigerator. (You should have plenty of dressing leftover for another use.) Store the salad, covered, in the refrigerator and serve it chilled.