Ingredients:

• 2 cups rice
• hot water twice the amount of rice
• 2 tbsp salt
• 2 cups hot water – make sure to use the same cup for rice and water. We always stick to the measurements when cooking rice pilaf and we measure it by volume.
• 7 tbsp butter – rice pilaf needs grease, you cannot make low fat pilaf, it would turn out to be something else. Also regular basic rice pilaf is made with butter, not with margarine, not with olive oil, never with coconut oil.
• 2 tsp salt

Put the rice in a bowl, add salt and cover with hot water. Let it stand until the water cools down to at least room temperature. Transfer into a sieve, rinse under cold water until the the water turns transparent, we never want any extra starch that would make our pilaf gummy. Let the rice stand, it will drain and get rid of all the extra water.

In a pan heat the butter over medium heat, add the rice, saute until the rice turns transparent, add the salt and the 2 cups of hot water, stir once, cover and let it do its thing on very low heat. Usually it takes 15-20 minutes for the rice to cook, when you open the lid, you are supposed to see little holes on top of the pilaf and maybe very little liquid at the bottom. Stir once again, then cover the pot with a clean kitchen towel, put the lid on. Turn off the heat, let it stand for 40 minutes. Then serve...

In Turkish culinary culture rice pilaf has a very special place. A home cook's skills are measured by the pilaf they cook. Although the ingredients are basic, cooking rice pilaf is a ritual that passes from mother to child. Cooking a good, delicious rice pilaf is a sign of maturity for a cook. Enjoy!

In another version, we add chickpeas to the rice pilaf, but you cannot use canned chickpeas, the trick is using dry chickpeas. As any dry legume, you have to soak the chickpeas overnight in cold water, drain then cook them. Reserve the same amount of this cooking liquid as your rice and use instead of water. Add the chickpeas into the rice at the same time you add the liquid and follow the directions. Serve hot, enjoy !

Additional ingredient for this version is ½ cup dry chickpeas.