have been trying a range of rice:water ratio's and have settled on using 10% less water ie weigh the rice then add x1.9 the rice weight in water. it seems to make a difference in that there appears to be less chance of getting overcooked rice.
i'm still cooking as before: bring to boil, then on low 15 mins followed by 5 min resting off the heat.
might be worth a try.
REv2 - apologies but the above stated 5 min resting time should have been be 10 mins
Hi Jerry,
I've never had a problem with rice and it really doesn't matter what grade basmati you buy. I even sometimes buy the value basmati from Tesco.
If you're using say 1 mug of rice, then wash it in a colander first until the water runs clear. Try not to agitate it with your hands too much or the rice will break in half. Then let the rice stand in the colander for a while.
I boil my rice first. So put it into a saucepan and cover it with boiling water. Add some salt and this is personal preference. Add just enough water so that its about 3/4" above the level of the rice. Too much water and the rice is soggy, not enough and it doesn't cook properly, so this is the bit that will be try and error for you, but about 3/4" is a good starting point.
Boil the rice for about 2-3 minutes hard, with the lid on so the lid is rattling!!!! Then reduce the heat to the lowest setting possible on you're cooker and just gently steam the rice for another 8-9 minutes or until the rice particles are just soft. This will give you the perfect boiled rice. Then take the lid off and just let it simmer for about another minute just so that any excess moisture in the rice evaporates.
If I am going to fry the rice, I would add a small knob of butter in a pan and add the cardamoms, cloves, cinnamon, cumin seeds, whatever whole masala you would want to use. However, after having washed the rice, then it needs to be totally dry. So I usually empty the rice onto a few sheets of kitchen towel and cover with a few more sheets. When the rice is dry I add it to the Whole cardamom mixture which would have been frying gently for about 20-30 seconds or until you get that aroma coming from the pan. Coat the rice well in the butter/whole masala mixture and fry for about a minute or so, then add the water as in the boiled section above and cook using that method.
If after the rice is done you are going to put it in the oven and make proper pilau rice, then you need to empty the rice into dishes and let it dry thoroughly before you finally add the colouring (if using) and finishing off in the oven at 50 deg C for about 20 minutes.
Once you have removed the rice from the oven, just fluff it up a bit with a fork.
Topic: What to look for when buying rice - any tips (Read 67844 times)
