Basmati Rice
Soaking Basmati Rice
Cooked Basmati Rice
Makes 5 cups of cooked rice
2 cups of Basmati Rice
3 cups of Water
1/4 teaspoon Sea Salt
Rinse the rice for a few minutes. The water does not need to run perfectly clear, like when rinsing Japanese rice, but rinsing helps get rid of starch that can make your rice sticky.
Soak your rice in cool water for 30 minutes to an hour. (You can totally skip this step, it makes the rice softer.)
In a kettle or separate pot, bring a quart of water to a boil.
If you have been soaking your rice, drain the water and pour the drained rice into a heavy bottom sauce pot. For 2 cups of rice I use a 2 quart pot. Add the salt and stir.
Measure out 3 cups of boiling water and pour over the rice and bring to a simmer on med high heat. When your water comes to a boil. Cover the pot with foil. Crimp the sides, so that steam cannot escape. Then add the lid.
Turn the heat down to the lowest setting. Cook the rice for 13 minutes, then turn the heat off. (If using an electric stove, move the pot off the heat.) Keep your pot covered and undisturbed. Let your rice sit for 5 more minutes to steam.
Carefully remove the lid and fluff with your fork and serve.
Tips:
Add salt to the rice in the pot, before pouring in the water. The salt will be absorbed into the rice grains.
Pouring already boiling water over the top of the rice in the pot, keeps the exact measure of water and no loss of water due to evaporation in my pot.
For yield and consistency. Always have a good seal on your pot, so that steam doesn’t escape. Steam is what cooks the rice so perfect allowing those rice grains to be long and separate, picture perfect rice. (I crimp foil over the pot and add the lid to confirm that seal.)
A comfort staple recipe to our home kitchen is Basmati Rice. Maxx, my teenager, has always loved rice. When he was smaller we had “Rice day” in our little family weekly rhythm. His two favorite ways to eat rice would be in a bowl with Gomasio and tamari or honey and cinnamon. We have cooked all the rice varieties, but our favorite always comes back to basmati.
Basmati is a long grain rice that has a rich, nutty aroma. Basmati is grown in India and Pakistan look for rice from there. With simple ingredients I always grab the best I can afford.
We don’t have special rice cooking gadgets - just a heavy bottom pot with a lid, measuring just right and technique.
The basic recipes are the ones that can make a big difference and ones we think, oh this will be easy and totally mess it up. When making any type of grains at home I usually use volume measure and for basmati the ratio is 2 cups of rice to 3 cups of boiling water- and it has never failed me. Lets make it!
