About Rice

There are two ways to do this: one is the pasta way - you boil a lot of water, a pinch of salt and a few drops of oil, add the rice and when tender pour out the excess water. Put the strained rice in a pot sprinkle some oil on the rice. Add some water and steam the rice on low until the rice is fully cooked.

The second way of cooking rice is the absorbed method, in which you put exactly the amount of water required to give the rice a perfect consistency. It is difficult to be accurate because the exact amount of water depends on the variety of rice used, its age and so on. Basmati rice requires about 1 ¾ parts water for one part of rice and jasmine rice requires about 2 parts water for one part of rice. Always use a heavy pot with a tight lid – remember for each cup of rice there is about 2 more cups of water, so choose your pot accordingly.


KESAR CHAWAL INGREDIENTS Basmati Rice 400gms. Sugar 400gms Water 600ml Cardamoms 8 (split, green) Cloves 12.Mixed dry fruit11/2 (cashewnuts, Raisins, Walnuts) Saffron Colour 1 tbsp (pinch of saffron dissolved in a tbsp. of hot water) Ghee 2 tbsp silver paper (Varak)] METHOD: Wash soak and drain rice. Bring the water to a boil add the rice and simmer. When rice is half done add the sugar (dissolved in about another 200 ml of water) and ghee and lower the fire. When fully done add the saffron, Cardamoms, cloves, and half of the dry fruit. Stir gently and cover for 10Mts. Garnish with remaining dry fruit and Varak. Serve hot with fresh cream.
KHEER INGREDIENTS Basmati Rice 225gms.Milk 1 lit. Sugar 100gms Sultana 10gms. Cardamom 15gms. Almond 10gms Pista 10gms Silver Paper (Varak) 2/3 METHOD: Boil Milk in a thick bottomed pan. Add washed rice. Stir till it boils. Simmer till rice is well cooked in Milk & a thick consistency is formed. Mix in sugar. Add powdered Cardamom. Garnish with Almond, Sultana Pista & Silver Paper (Varak)
FISH BIRYANI INGREDIENTS Basmati Rice Fish Coconut Cummin seeds Green Chilies Onion Garlic Turmeric Ghee Salt 500 gms. 500 gms. i. No.1 tsp.4. No.1 Medium 4 cloves A small Piece 4 tbsp. to taste. METHOD Cut and wash the fish and boil in a cup of water with salt. Remove and bone it (leaving one small fish), keep aside. Wash, soak and drain rice. Grind turmeric, cumin seeds, chillies, garlic and half the onion to a paste. Extract 3 cups of coconut milk. Heat ghee in a saucepan slice and fry remaining onion, add rice stir well. Pour coconut milk and little water if required when rice is almost cooked add the ground paste, boned fish and salt. Mix gently and reduce heat or bake in a moderate oven till the rice is sufficiently dry. Serve garnished with the remaining complete, boiled fish.
KASHMIRI PULAO INGREDIENTS Basmati Rice 500gms Onions115gms Cinnamon 5gms. Cardamom 5gms Cloves 5gms. Turmeric a pinch. Saffron 1gm. Milk 10ml. Cashewnut 20gWalnut 20gms Oil 50gm Salt to taste. Water 1lit. METHOD Wash & Soak rice. Slice onions. Heat oil, fry onion till golden brown & remove. Fry whole spices, turmeric, add rice, sauté. Add half saffron dissolved in a little warm milk. Add hot water & mix gently. Cook a little. Finish with remaining saffron & cook till grains are separated. Serve garnished with fried onions, cashewnut & walnuts. Traditionally, it goes with Mutton Rogan Josh.
BOILED RICE FOR 3 1 cup (200g) rice 1 1/3 cups water, if using soaked basmati, 1 ¾ cups of water for unsoaked rice salt a few drops of oil/ghee It is best to start the process to cook the rice about 1 hour before the start of a meal. Wash the rice twice, throw away the water, Soak the rice for about 15-20 minutes. The rice will expand 25 per cent in this time. Put the water on to boil in a large pot, add salt (about ¼ teaspoon per cup of rice) and a few drops of oil, and when boiling add the rice. Cover and cook until for 7-8 minutes. Do not remove the cover and let the rice finish cooking in its own steam. You can season the rice with cumin seeds fried in 2 teaspoons butter, ghee or oil in a ladle for a few seconds. Sprinkle over the rice when in its serving dish. FRAGRANT RICE When boiling rice, add ½-in (1cm) cinnamon stick and ¼ tej patta (bayleaf) together with 1 cardamom and 1 clove, if liked. Remove the spices before serving. YELLOW RICE This rice can be served whenever you choose as the taste and flavor do not alter, only the color. Just add a pinch of turmeric when boiling the rice. SAFFRON RICE Soak a few strands of saffron in 3 tablespoons of water for 30 minutes. When the rice is done, pour the soaking water and the saffron over the cooking rice with a teaspoon and return the lid to the pot so that aroma does not escape. VEGETABLE RICE For 1 cup pulao rice, slice 1 small onion finely. Then heat 2 tablespoons oil in the pot in which you will cook the rice, and fry the onions until deep brown. Add the rice, a small pce of tej patta, ½-in (1 cm) cinnamon stick and 1 clove and saute for 2 minutes. Then cook rice as explained above under ‘Boiled Rice’
Interesting Reading: Worldwide there are more than 40,000 different varieties of rice. Here are some of the common and popular varieties used in India. Basmati Rice Description - Basmati Rice is a non-glutinous rice that has been cultivated at the foot of the Himalayan mountain ranges for centuries. The rivers Yamuna and Ganga feed the fields. The rice is long-grain and scented and when literally translated from Hindi it means ‘queen of scents’ or ‘pearl of scents’. It is the world’s best rice one can use for cooking although, for variety one uses jasmine and parboiled rice. For centuries it has been exported to the Arab countries and many of their traditional rice dishes are cooked with long grained Basmati rice. It is an aromatic long grain slender rice from India and Pakistan, is fragrant and has a nutty flavor. Cooking Hints: – Boil it in water for perfumed rice dish or just add ghee to the water to enhance its nutty aroma and double your rice dinning experience. Add some whole spices, nuts, dried fruits, vegetables and beans (or meats) to the rice and make a rice dish into a main meal. Best Uses Biryani Plain boiled white rice Small Basmati – Kalijira from Bangladesh This is a miniature basmati and can be cooked like basmati. This is a small rice which is non-glutinous rice Cooking Hints: – Boil it in water for an excellent rice dish or just add ghee to the water to enhance its nutty aroma and double your rice dinning experience. Add some whole spices, nuts, dried fruits, vegetables and beans (or meats) to the rice and make a rice dish into a main meal. Best Uses Biryani Plain boiled white rice Converted Rice (a.k.a. parboiled) Description: The process of parboiling is from south India where steam was passed through the grains with the husks on. The nutrients are embedded into the grain by this procedure. The rice is polished after this teaming is done. This results in more nutritious rice than white rice and more digestible rice than brown rice. . For this reason other Asian countries that depended on rice as their staple sometimes had survey, but the Indians avoided it due to the process of parboiling. Also, This procedure gelatinizes the starch in the grain, and ensures a firmer, more separate grain. Consumers and chefs who desire extra fluffy and separate cooked rice favor parboiled rice. Cooking hints: This rice requires no rinsing due to its enrichment. Bring 1 part rice and 2 parts salted liquid to a boil; lower the heat. Cook, covered, for 15 minutes. Best Uses an all purpose rice good for south Indian Idlis plain boiled rice Excellent rice for side dishes along with vegetables.