Kabuli Pulao is built around the rice. The lamb, the carrots, the raisins, the spice — these are all important. The rice carries the dish, and the rice that works in Kabuli Pulao is specific. The rice you cannot find easily in Australian supermarkets is one of the reasons that home cooks here often end up with a Kabuli Pulao that does not quite taste like the one their grandmother made.

What rice we are looking for

Sela basmati. The aged, parboiled variety that is dried after parboiling. The grains are firm. They separate cleanly. They absorb flavour from the meat stock without going mushy. The texture in the finished pulao is light and the grains stand apart.

Younger basmati or standard basmati works for many other dishes. It does not work for Kabuli Pulao the way sela does. The difference is most obvious in the texture of the finished rice — sela holds its shape through the steaming phase. Younger basmati can collapse.

Where to find sela basmati in Australia

The major supermarket chains have started carrying sela basmati in some stores. The reliability is poor. The brands and the quality vary. Sometimes the rice labelled as sela is actually a different variety.

The specialty Afghan and Iranian groceries in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane are the most reliable sources. Brands like Adam, Tilda Premium, and a few regional brands appear in these shops with good quality.

The Indian groceries also carry sela basmati but the variety they stock may be more suited to biryani than to pulao. The grains can be longer and the cooking behaviour slightly different. Workable but not ideal.

What to do if you cannot find sela

The next best substitute is good quality aged basmati. Look for rice labelled as aged for at least two years. The packaging usually mentions the ageing. Younger basmati has too much moisture and tends to mush.

A second-best substitute is good quality long-grain rice with explicit instructions to par-cook before the final steam. This requires more technique to get right but can produce acceptable results.

Avoid jasmine rice, glutinous rice, medium-grain, or sushi rice for this dish. The starch content and the grain structure are wrong.

The preparation that matters

Rinse the rice thoroughly. The standard advice is until the water runs clear. For sela basmati, four or five rinses produces water that is still slightly cloudy but clean enough.

Soak the rice. Sela benefits from a 30 to 45 minute soak in cold water before cooking. The soak softens the outer layer of the grain and lets the rice cook to the right texture.

Par-cook the rice. The Kabuli Pulao technique is to par-cook the rice in salted water until it is about 70% cooked, drain it, and then steam it on top of the meat and stock. The par-cook step has to be timed carefully. Too short and the rice is hard at the centre. Too long and the rice becomes mushy in the steam.

The steaming step

The steam is where the rice absorbs the flavour from the meat. Layer the par-cooked rice on top of the lamb and carrots and raisins in the pot. Drizzle a little extra stock or melted butter over the rice. Cover the pot with a tight lid, lined with a clean tea towel under the lid to absorb condensation.

Steam over low heat for 25 to 30 minutes. The rice should be fluffy when uncovered, the grains should be separate, and the bottom of the pot should have a slight crust where the rice has caramelised against the surface.

What goes wrong

Too much liquid in the par-cooking water produces rice that is wet through the steaming phase. The grains stick together and the texture is wrong.

Too little salt in the par-cooking water produces rice that is bland regardless of how flavourful the meat is. The salt has to go into the rice in the par-cook step. Adding salt later does not produce the same result.

The wrong rice produces wrong results regardless of technique. This is the most common failure for home cooks new to the dish. Start with the right rice and the rest of the technique forgives a lot.

A note on the gathering

Kabuli Pulao is communal food. The dish is built for a long table with many guests, generous serving, conversation that lasts hours. Making it for two people is workable but loses some of what makes the dish what it is. The next time you have a serious gathering, the pulao earns its place at the centre of the table.