I have never been a fan of brown rice. As a matter of fact, when I was talking to my friend, Elysia today, she said the same thing.
Brown rice could be very blended if you do not add lots of herbs, garlic, and oil to it.

However, my feelings towards brown rice changed after this Curried Brown Rice recipe.
My husband, Dwight loved it so much so that he asked me to make it again this week. Very unusual of him, but he did.
Brown rice is the “unrefined” version of white rice. Here, unrefined means that it is not stripped of its hulls and bran, which makes it a whole grain. In other words, it is a whole grain that has not lost its “wholeness” through refinement.
Therefore, with its high fiber content, brown rice is a great side dish recipe you can serve with chicken, beef, salad, or vegetable meals.
About This Curried Brown Rice Recipe
Knowing this, I really wanted to find a way to create a brown rice recipe that will give me all the goodness that it offers but still has great taste. Another goal of mine was to use healthy fats like nuts and seeds to boost its flavor.

That is how this Curry Brown Rice came about.
Imagine; curry, brown rice, crunchy sunflower seeds, raisins, onions, garlic, and bell pepper. All in one dish…
Nutritious, simple, and filling…

When I first made this brown rice curry, I used water to cook the brown rice, which was okay. But next time I made it, I used homemade vegetable stock instead of water.
Ohhhh my!!!! What a difference vegetable stock made. All the flavors of vegetables in the stock were magically incorporated with the aroma of cooked brown rice and made it smell like a vegetable garden.
Just imagine the smell in my kitchen!!

It takes close to 50 minutes for the rice to cook. I would recommend cooking the rice first and while it is resting, work on the other ingredients. The more you let the rice rest, the flavorful it gets.
After you mix the rice with other ingredients, once again, let it rest for at least 15 minutes so that all the flavors in each ingredient (mostly curry) will have time to blend with each other.
Believe me, it is worth your time.
For Dwight, who does not believe in a meal without lean protein, I served it with a piece of chicken breast. For myself, who wishes that one day she could become a vegan or vegetarian, I served it with steamed vegetables.
Other Brown Rice Recipes You Might Like:
Other Pilaf Recipes You Might Like:
Curried Brown Rice
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups Brown Basmati Rice
- 3 cups plus 3 tablespoon vegetable stock or water
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- 1 tablespoon sesame or olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 1 medium red or green bell pepper seeded and chopped
- 1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
- 1/2 cup no-sugar added raisins
- 1 1/2 teaspoon curry
- 1 tablespoon fresh Italian Parsley finely chopped
Instructions
- Rinse rice under warm running water. Place it in a medium pan with stock and salt, and bring it to a boil. Turn down the heat to low and simmer for 50 minutes with the lid on. Set aside to rest.
- Meanwhile, in a different pan, sauté onions, stirring frequently, until softened for 4 minutes. Stir in the pepper and let it cook with the onions for another 2 to 3 minutes.
- Once fragrant, add sunflower seeds and 3 tablespoon stock and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Lastly, stirring constantly, add the raisons and curry powder.
- Combine curry mixture with rice; simmer until liquid is absorbed for about 10 minutes. Let it rest at least 15 minutes.
- When ready to serve, sprinkle it with freshly chopped parsley.
dannie
lovely meal.
Wayne
Hi Aysedgul. You should also know that in a number of rice producing countries, very toxic sprays – even those with mercury content – remain legal and are deployed. Paradoxically, it’s only by removing the husk where these chemicals sit that the rice becomes more ‘healthy’, though white. So any suggestion that brown rice is healthier has to be qualified. It is – but only if it comes from a country with strict pesticide regulations ie Italy ,or, better still, if it’s organic.
Aysegul Sanford
Interesting.. Thank you for letting me know Wayne.
ramie streng
Thanks very much for the recipe. I happened to have brown jasmine rice, currants and roasted cashews on hand so subbed. Also as I didn’t have broth, while cooking the rice in my rice cooker I added frozen chopped onions and garlic, and 3 tablespoons butter ( I happened to cook up three cups of dry rice) so it was nice and favorful. Next time I will try with oil and broth though I loved the results with butter! Looking forward to having the leftovers for lunch! Incidentally,when I served the rice that’s when I sprinkled on the roasted cashews.
Aysegul Sanford
Hi Ramie,
These all sound like great additions to the recipe.
I love the idea of roasted cashews. Lately I have been experimenting with them a lot and really excited to share some of those recipes on the blog very soon.
Thanks for stopping by and letting me know.
Cheers!
Ice
Andrea
just made this is and it’s really tasty! thank you so much!
Aysegul Sanford
Hi Andrea,
It is too funny because I made this dish for lunch today as well..
One of my favorite brown rice dishes..
Glad to hear that it worked out for you.
Thanks for stopping by!
Cheers..
Aysegul