Among the many people in my life, who I think of in the kitchen is Rosy. In an ideal world, I would be able to tell her how much and how often I think of her, but the distance would make my effusive emotions sound too ostentatious and this would embarrass her.

Rosy was one of my colleagues in graduate school, she and I, took many a class together and she also cooked many a meal and taught me tips and tricks about many a spice and how to use them.

She once told me that her name meant, a bouquet of roses, I think that is how I think of her. She was always neat, dressed in colorful semi-traditional clothes, actually her idea of wearing long tunics over jeans is so trendy now that we are all doing it, she had bright eyes, a perky nose and long black hair. Her constant smile always reached her eyes.

Rosy is fromPakistan, she came to school with her husband and unlike the rest of us instead of living in the dorm she lived in a small apartment off campus. Her world combining school and household seemed so alien at times to me, but the seductive comfort of her cooking drew me in. She had no dearth of samplers on her small table, so she often cooked her food, community style. Her dishes were hearty robustly spiced stews, comforting curries and several other one pot dishes. She taught me how to let the rice rest, before serving a pilaf to allow the rice to, “bloom”. She also introduced me to the black cardamom. This was a new spice to me, not used a lot in my mother’s kitchen but I learnt to love its husky smoky taste.

We often completed assignment together, nourished by the simple comfort of her meals, we also chatted and shared many a vision of the future together.

After graduation, I connected with Rosy, over facebook in the last year and learnt that she had two beautiful boys (now in their teens), she spent the rest of her time teaching and in just the past year she and her husband has started a new restaurant. His family was in the hospitality business, but she had always wanted to branch out to something smaller and more personal and it was nice to see that she had been able to accomplish that.

I share with you a one-dish recipe that is inspired by some thing she used to cook quite often. A hearty rice dish that was a one dish meal, enriched with her black cardamoms and complete with a generous dose of butter. It might be argued that you might add clarified butter to this, but back then in a graduate school setting that might be a novelty. She added chunks of fish (canned sardines) to this recipe, it is still my go to comfort food. If I am in a real rush I use canned sardines. I have also added Vidalia onions as a finishing touch, and through in the diced potatoes that my mother adds to her fish pilaf.

Comfort One Dish Fish Pilaf

Prep Time: 20-25 minutes

Cook Time: 25-30 minutes

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

½ cup oil

1 and ½ teaspoons turmeric

1 large potato, peeled and diced

Salt to taste

2 onions, thinly sliced

1 teaspoon grated ginger

11/2 cup basmati rice, washed and dried

1 cup cooked chickpeas

1 eggplant cut into small pieces

1 teaspoon cumin powder

1 teaspoon coriander powder

3 bay leaves

2 black cardamoms

1 teaspoon black peppercorns, coarsely ground

2 and 1/2 cups broth

2 tablespoons butter

1 sweet Vidalia onion, sliced

2 tomatoes, chopped

2 cans of oil packed sardines, drained and cut into pieces

1 tablespoon chopped cilantro

Method of Preparation

1. Heat half the oil on medium heat, in a large cooking pot.

2. Rub the potatoes with ½ teaspoon of turmeric.

3. Sprinkle with ½ teaspoon of salt and set aside.

4. Add in the remaining oil and add the onions and sauté for about 6 to 7 minutes, until the onions soften and begin to turn golden on the edges.

5. Add in the ginger and the basmati rice and fry the rice for 3-4 minutes.

6. Add in the chickpeas and eggplant and mix well.

7. Add in the cumin powder, coriander powder, bay leaves, cardamom and black peppercorns.

8. Add in the broth with the remaining turmeric and bring it to a simmer.

9. Cover and cook on medium heat for 20 minutes.

10. In the meantime, heat the butter and sauté the Vidalia onion, until soft and beginning to turn golden.

11. Remove the cover of the pot and add in the fried potatoes, onions and the tomatoes and stir well but gently so as to not break the rice grains.

12. Lower the temperature and cook for 3 more minutes.

13. Turn off the heat and mix the sardines.

14. Keep the dish covered for 10 minutes before serving.

15. Garnish with the cilantro and serve.