Wash the rice about 2 times, then fill the pot and soak the rice for about 20 minutes.
I think mushrooms could really compliment this dish very well. If you do not like cilantro, you can use flat leaf parsley. Also, you may use toasted, sliced almonds or any nuts that you prefer. It is for extra crunch. You can use coconut oil. Instead of water, you can add chicken stock. The addition of Turmeric powder to make my rice yellow was a wonderful compliment. Turmeric is Power food, and I recommend it. We enjoyed it very much, plus it gives a wonderful warm taste. I used Tomato paste because it gave me an amazing flavor, but you can use 1 cup of cored and diced fresh tomatoes. It is up to you. Especially when tomatoes are not in season, I think tomato paste or even canned stewed and peeled tomatoes would work very well. Usually, I use my grinder for the spices. So, most of my spices are roughly in the powder form. I keep them in the little jars, like cumin or coriander. I think it is just amazing even though it's probably not the most traditional way of making it, but it makes one wonderful meal regardless. For the vegetarian version, I would definitely recommend quick boiled (3 minutes) cauliflower and mix in 1 cup of sliced mushrooms instead of the meat/poultry. I made that one before and it was delicious.
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