Topic: Plain, Steamed, Basmati Rice

[MikeStan]

Just thought I'd share my recipe for perfect steamed basmati rice because it's something that's very easy to get right and just as easy to get wrong.

I used to always order Pilou Rice whenever i ate from a BIR but have found it too greasy recently, as a result i switched to plain. that was great but whenever i ate at home it turned out claggy, wet and horrible.

in the end i tried a lot of recipes and this works best, sorry if it's very simple and I'm preaching to the choir but i couldn't see it anywhere on the site;

1) rice and its cooking is done by volume, not weight so find a appropriately sized vessel. I use an actual cup measure (250ml of liquid). fill that with your rice and pour into a sieve.

2) fill the kettle and put on to boil.

3) chuck the plug into the sink and begin running cold water. put the rice, in the sieve under the flow and begin to wash. once the water in the sink is up to the top of the sieve (if it's resting on the bottom) switch off the tap.

4) start to rinse the rice; shake the sieve (careful not to lose any!) and run your fingers through the rice (did i forget to tell you to wash your hands???). carry that on until the water is milky and not clear.

5) pull the plug and start the cold water again. run the sieve under the cold tap again as the sink drains and replace the plug.

6)repeat steps 4 & 5 until the water doesn't turn milky. To be honest that depends on the quality / cleanlines of the rice, I've had expensive rice take 4 goes but my current bulk bought basmati only takes 2.

7) chuck a pan with a decently fitting lid on the heat. long term we want very little heat but in the beginning we want the water to boil so the hotter the better.

let your rice drain in the sieve.

9) put 2 measures (double the volume of rice) of the kettle hot water into the now hot pan, closely followed by the rice from step 8.

10) turn up heat and wait for simmer.

11) chuck on lid and turn the heat down as low as it'll go.

12) leave it alone for 10 mins.

13) leave it alone for 3 mins.

14) grab a fork, open the lid and move the rice at the bottom gently aside. is there water? if so return to step 13. if not move forward to step 15.

15)  grab a fork, take a few grains. if they're cooked then turn off the heat, put the lid back.

16) Wait for everyone to stop messing about and sit down before you put the perfectly cooked rice on the table alongside the most amazing curry they've ever eaten.

i think that covers it.
 

[Peripatetic Phil]

Nice recipe, Mike, and very similar in many ways to the first stages of pulao rice that I have used in the past.  Unclear what your purpose was, though, in casting the second step 15 as you did -- would "Wait for everyone to stop messing about" not have conveyed your idea just as well ?

** Phil.

[MikeStan]

Fair play, was drunkenly written in the vernacular. Have removed the offending language...

[natterjak]

Hi Mike, thanks for posting this. Couple of Qs...

How much water from the kettle do you add to the pan in step 9?
Is there a step missing between 12 and 13? Just wondering why step 12 isn't "leave alone for 13 mins"?

Ta

[MikeStan]

sorry natterjack, seems drunken posting isn't a great idea, people seem to spot the massive holes in things!

Have resolved the water volume issue, it's always double the volume of rice...

cheers!

[natterjak]

No problem Mike. Think there's plenty of drunken posting on this forum at times, which should be a cause for regret but I'm not talking about recipes

[Peripatetic Phil]

Fair play, was drunkenly written in the vernacular. Have removed the offending language...

Thanks, Mike -- much appreciated.
** Phil.