Best Way To Cook Basmati Rice

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Best Way To Cook Basmati Rice

Rice, the edible starchy cereal grain is produced mainly in all of East and Southeast Asia.

It is also used as a staple food in many parts of India. 95 percent of the world’s rice crop is eaten by humans.

The rice plant is grown on submerged land in the coastal plains, tidal deltas, and river basins of tropical, semitropical, and temperate regions.

Today we’ll learn how to make steamed rice in two parts.

There are two Best Way To Cook Basmati Rice… one is on the gas stove and another is by using a rice cooker.

I have tried to do justice to both the ways of cooking. I use them alternatively when I am travelling and am faced with voltage fluctuations or no electricity.

My husband loves to eat rice but he doesn’t like it when the grains stick together or its cooked soggy.

Hence I had to derive the Best Way To Cook Basmati Rice and cook it the perfect way…

Best Way To Cook Basmati Rice on Gas Stove

Cooking basmati rice is something that almost anyone can do.

It’s a relaxing and rewarding way to end a day and it doesn’t have to be complicated.

Steamed rice is a versatile staple dish of many different regional cuisines. It is the backbone of an Indian meal and fairly easy to make. 

You should not face any problem if you follow some basic steps.

Part One

Things You’ll Need

Course Main Course, Rice & Breads
Cuisine American, Chinese, Indian, Italian, Japanese, Mexican

Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes

Servings 4

Author Ranjeeta Nath Ghai

Ingredients

• 1 cup dry basmati rice
• 2 tsp ghee/oil
• 2 cup water
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 Saucepan with lid
• 1 Wooden spoon
• 1 Gas Stove
• 1 Measuring utensil

Instructions

How To Make The Steamed Rice On A Gas Stove

1. Use the right amount of water. use the ratio 1:2 i.e one cup rice : 2 cups water.
2. If you’re serving more people than that you should increase the amount of rice and water accordingly.
3. Use a thick bottomed pan.
4. Add in some ghee. Put ghee, olive oil or any other oil of your choice into the pan. Add more if you are making a large amount of rice.
5. Add the rice. Turn the burner on medium and heat the oil slightly, and then add your rice to the pan. Stir it to make sure all the rice is well coated with oil. At this point, the rice will have a translucent look to it.
6. Cook or fry the rice in the oil just a bit longer if you want drier, crispier rice.
7. Keep stirring the rice while it heats. After a minute or so it will turn from translucent to a hard white colour.
8. Add the water and bring it to a boil. Add your water and give it a slight stir to make sure all the rice is in the water. Then stir occasionally until the water comes to a boil.
9. Lower the heat to extra low when the rice comes to a boil. The flame should go as low as you can go on a gas burner and then put a lid on the rice. You can put it on a thick bottom tawa to avoid burning of rice and ensure slow and even cooking.
10. Let it simmer, without removing the lid, for 15-20 minutes. Any longer than this and you’re risking burning the bottom of the rice. Make sure you don’t remove the lid! This point is very important because this is the “steaming” step.
11. Remove the rice from the heat. Turn the burner off completely after simmering. Set the pan aside with the lid on. It can sit like this until you are ready to use it, but let it continue to steam for at least 30 minutes.
12. Enjoy your steamed rice with dal tadka/butter chicken/fish/ sambhar/chole/kadhi or any other recipe of your choice.

Cooking Rice in a Rice Cooker

Cooking rice is something that almost anyone can do.

Everyone wants to know the Best Way To Cook Basmati Rice.

It’s a relaxing and rewarding way to end a day and it doesn’t have to be complicated.

Steamed rice is a versatile staple dish of many different regional cuisines. It is the backbone of an Indian meal and fairly easy to make.

You should not face any problem if you follow some basic steps.

Best Way To Cook Basmati Rice Using A Rice Cooker

Best Way To Cook Basmati Rice is by using a rice cooker. A rice cooker will always make superior cooked rice. Invest in one if you plan on eating rice often. It will make your life much easier.

Part Two

Making It Better

Course Main Course, Rice & Breads
Cuisine American, Chinese, French, Gujarati, Indian, Italian, Japanese, Mexican

Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes

Servings 4

Author Ranjeeta Nath Ghai

Ingredients

• 1 cup dried rice
• 2 tsp ghee/olive oil or any oil of your choice
• 1½ cups water
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 Rice cooker
• 1 Wooden spoon
• 1 Measuring utensil

Instructions

Choose your rice carefully. Different rice work well in different dishes.

Depending on what you want to use the rice for, you might want to change which rice you buy.

Different rice will be drier or stickier, have different flavors, or have more or fewer nutrients.

My personal favourite is Devaya Basmati Rice. It suits all purpose… be it a party or day to day consumption.

1. Wash your rice. Wash rice before you cook it if you don’t want it to be too sticky. This will remove some of the starch and improve the final texture.
2. Soak the rice before cooking. Adjust the water of the rice and cover the rice in warm water and allow it to soak.
3. Add ghee/oil and salt. Cook with spices or plain as you like it.
4. Before you close up the lid for your rice to steam, add some spices like FoodAll Time Garam Masala to give it a little flavour, and then give it a stir. You can also add sauteed onions and peas with whole spices.
5. Push down the leaver of the rice cooker to ‘cooking’ mode. 
6. After it is done it’ll automatically come up to ‘keep warm.’ Let it stand on its own steam. Lift the lid when you are ready to eat.

Recipe Notes

• My personal favourite is Devaya Basmati Rice. It suits all-purpose… be it a party or day to day consumption.
• Best Way To Cook Basmati Rice is by soaking your rice in warm water before you cook it will greatly improve the texture of the final product and reduce the cooking time too.
• Use the right amount of water. Remember that the measurement to making steamed rice is “one part rice, two parts water”.
• So, if you use a cup of dried white rice you should use two cups of water.
• One cup of dried rice is plenty to serve two people with a good appetite and four people who are small eaters.
• If you’re serving more people than that you should increase the amount of rice and water accordingly.
• Make sure the pan is big enough to accommodate the amount of rice and liquid you are using.
• As long as you keep the same proportions, you can use any liquid you’d like. Chicken/mutton broth is a good choice when cooking biryani.
• The beauty of cooking rice is that you can add or remove anything you want according to your own tastes.
• You can also add sautéed onions and peas with whole spices.
• The main thing to remember is that you need to add these at the beginning, right after you add the liquid to the sautéed rice.
• You can also cook it on a thick bottom tawa to avoid burning of rice and ensure slow and even cooking.
• Adjust the water to the rice. Long grain rice needs about 1 ½  cups of water to every cup of rice.
• Brown rice will need at least 2 cups of water and likely more, but short-grained white rice will need less than the standard to get it perfect the first time.
• You should always adjust the water once short-grained rice cooks up.

Warnings

• When you sautéed the rice with ghee/oil, you need to watch it carefully. At this point, it can burn very easily.
• If it seems to be starting to turn brown, the best way to stop the cooking process is to lift the pan off the burner. This is a simple process that is easy to remember and very effective.