Topic: Rice?

[Malc.]

I love rice plain, basmati, short grain, long grain, arborio, etc.....

I love it in its plain form, but I know others are not so keen. So I just wondered, amongst us, who is and who isn't addicted to rice as I am?

What is your favourite way to cook and eat it?

[Naga]

I don't think there's any form of rice I dislike, but you can't whack plain boiled rice for getting maximum taste from a curry. Especially since I've started soaking my rice in hot water before cooking to lengthen the grains.

Between curries, paellas and risottos, I think I probably eat more rice than potatoes these days - and I'm not even counting pasta dishes like pastitsio, bolognese, all'amatriciana, puttanesca or Romana, yet!

[DalPuri]

Rice salad, NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   

[Peripatetic Phil]

Not a great rice fan.  Biryani, pulao, fried rice, sticky rice (wrapped in lotus leaf with mixed meats) yes, most of the others no.  I eat boiled rice when we have a family meal at (e.g.,) Joy King Lau, because it is served by default and not charged separately, but I do have to dress it with lots of soja sauce and chilli oil before I can eat more than a mouthful or two. Rice pudding leaves me cold.  And even with dishes such as chilli con carne that many serve with rice, I prefer chips to be honest.  It's not bad in dolmades, though ...

** Phil.

[bamble1976]

Love rice. More keen on flavoured rice but will eat plain basmati if required. Love garlic/chilli rice and keema rice. Can eat these on their own!

Prefer basmati to long grain

Barry

[Stephen Lindsay]

I tend in the main to serve plain boiled rice with my curries and will occasionally venture into "pilau" (coloured) rice which I don't think is actually pilau at all. Chinese fried rice? Yum!  As for other rice bases dishes I love things like risotto etc. so I guess I am keen on rice.

[Malc.]

I don't think there's any form of rice I dislike, but you can't whack plain boiled rice for getting maximum taste from a curry.

This is something that I hadn't truly appreciated until a few months back. I ordered a jalfrezi and had no idea what to have with it, when it was suggested to me to have a plain rice as the dish was full flavoured and fairly hot.

I would usually have had a mushroom rice but on sitting down to eat the dinner, I came to appreciate the simplicity of the plain rice and the balance it provided to the dish. It certainly accentuated the flavours in the jalfrezi.

Other than plain rice which I prefer, I also enjoy onion rice, mushroom rice and keema peas rice. The one I seem to stay away from these days is actually pilau.

[chonk]

I love rice! I prefer simple, plain chawal. Occasionally mixed with one or two tablespoons of butter, just before serving. Can't beat that. As a main meal, I like pulaos and biryanis, too, but woulnd't mix these with my dals or vegetable dishes. Chaat-like snacks with puffed rice are one of my favourites also, so is beaten rice (poha) or rice-desserts like phirni or kheer. Mmhh... (:

What about the cooking? Do you guys add the rice when the water is boiling, or right at the start, before everything heats up? (the indian way, i guess)

[Peripatetic Phil]

What about the cooking? Do you guys add the rice when the water is boiling, or right at the start, before everything heats up? (the indian way, i guess)

For myself, neither : I add boling water to the pre-fried rice and spices and then cook using the evaporation method.
** Phil.

[Malc.]

Hi Chonk, I usually add soaked or well rinsed rice to boiling water, bring back to the boil with lid off and continue to cook on a rolling boil for around 7 minutes. I do vary the the cooking time depending on how long I pre-soak or if using a different brand of rice as they do vary slightly.