Ingredients (use vegan versions):
- 1 part Indian Basmati Rice (e.g. 1 cup)
- 1 1/2 parts water for cooking (e.g. 1 1/2 cups)
- water for soaking
- If making a pilaf:
- small amount vegetable oil for sautéing
- vegetables & herbs as desired (e.g. onion, mushrooms, peas, carrots, dill, cloves, cardamom, etc.)
- pinch of salt
Directions:
1. Wash the rice: Put raw Basmati rice
in a large bowl, fill with water, and
swirl gently with your hand to release
the white starchy dust from the rice.
Strain off the water and repeat until
most of the dust has been washed off
the rice.
2. Add more water to the bowl (at least
twice as much as you have rice) and set
aside. Allow the rice to soak for 30
minutes.
3. When you have about 10 minutes or so
of soaking time left, bring water (1
1/2 times as much as you had dry rice)
to a boil in a nice heavy pot with a
lid tight-fitting lid.
3a. Pilaf Version. If you are making a
rice pilaf, prior to boiling the water,
sauté all the necessary herbs and
vegetables in the rice pot until half-
cooked. Then add water and bring it
all up to a boil.
4. Drain off any remaining soaking
liquid from the rice and add the soaked
rice to the boiling water.
Allow the whole thing to come back up
to a boil, then reduce the heat to a
low simmer and cover the pot. Simmer
the rice on low heat for exactly 5
minutes.
5. After the 5 minutes, remove the pot
from the stove, keeping it covered, and
allow it to sit undisturbed for 20
minutes.
6. Check the rice after 20 minutes. It
should be perfectly cooked. If it is
still a little uncooked. Just re-cover
the pot and allow it to sit 4 or 5
minutes more, off the stove.
When the rice is done to your liking,
transfer it to a serving dish (the best
thing to do), or at least fluff it well
up with a spoon or rice paddle and
leave uncovered to cool it and stop
the "cooking" process.
Note: This is an old Persian method
for making perfect Basmati rice every
time. It can be adjusted
proportionately to make anything from a
half cup to 100 cups of rice and it
always works.
Indian Basmati rice is preferred for
this recipe. It is totally different
in texture from the American-grown
Basmati like Texmati. American
Basmati tends to have a thicker,
shorter grain and is more sticky when
cooked, so it will never give you quite
the "right" texture for Asian and
Middle Eastern recipes. Indian Basmati
is also usually a lot cheaper and is
readily available in most cities'
ethnic stores and even in very
economical 10 lb canvas bags at Costco.
Preparation time: 1 hour incl. prep
Serves:
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