15:29, 09 Dec 2023, author: Ermakova M.

How to cook basmati rice

Name: How to cook basmati rice
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 1 h 30 min
Total time: 1 h 40 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: European
Ingredients: Basmati rice - 250 g; Water - as needed

Basmati rice - important cooking secrets to ensure it turns out like in a real Indian restaurant.

Photo source: https://ru.123rf.com/profile_tinyb76

The owner of an Indian restaurant, which we wandered into completely by accident, told me how to cook basmati rice fluffy and long, but I had been hunting for this recipe for a very long time!

While on vacation in Asia, a couple of times I came across some absolutely amazing rice - long, almost like small noodles! Due to the fact that my knowledge of the language was not enough each time to ask the aborigines in more detail, I thought that this was some kind of variety unknown to me. I searched hard for it, tried several versions of long-grain rice - and every time it turned out wrong! And suddenly I saw it, that same rice!!! It was in a restaurant that was highly praised for its authentic cuisine. It was brought to us as a side dish. Well, you know, this is how it is in many Asian restaurants: the main dishes are prepared to order, and a bowl of empty rice is brought to everyone, by default. Well, we ordered tandoori, and they brought this luxurious long-grain rice, and tandoori became irrelevant to me! I asked the waiter in the kitchen to find out what kind of variety they use and where it can be purchased. The waiter returned accompanied by the hostess (a Hindu), who assured me that this was the most ordinary basmati that could be bought in any store.

Well, I didn’t cook basmati, or what?! Yes, he never turned out like this when he was born, not even anything like that! After asking me how exactly I cook rice, this nice woman didn’t even laugh loudly - she simply told me how to cook basmati rice correctly. Because what they write on our packages is not complete garbage, but it is by no means a way that allows you to prepare crumbly basmati with the maximum possible length of grains and demonstrate this rice in all its glory.

As I understood from the explanations of our kind hostess, there are two recipes for basmati with a similar result: either boiling in a very small amount of water, or steaming. She said she cooks it in water at home, but at the restaurant they steam it.

I don’t have a professional steamer, but I do have a bamboo attachment for a saucepan, brought just from my vacation in Asia. Since, on the contrary, you most likely do not have a bamboo sieve, I can recommend using a regular steamer or pressure cooker. If they do not have a nozzle with small diameter holes, then take foil or thick pastry paper, poke a lot of small holes in it and place it on top of a tray with large holes.

How to cook basmati rice

Кухня: European, ризотто, калории: 116, время приготовления: 01:40

Ингредиенты

Basmati rice - 250 g

Water - as needed

Рецепт

1. The first stage is the most important, without it nothing will be achieved. And it cannot be shortened. Basmati rice is soaked in plenty of WARM water for 1 hour. It must be warm, the hostess emphasized this.

2. Towards the end of soaking the rice, boil a large amount of water in a saucepan.

3. The bamboo steamer should be approximately the same diameter as the pan, but in no case smaller so as not to fall inside.

4. After soaking, the water is completely drained from the rice.

5. Place the rice in a double boiler, level it and steam under a closed lid (over high heat) for 25-35 minutes. In a professional steamer it will be faster, it has a tighter lid and less steam loss.

6. And when the rice stands up like a hedgehog and becomes soft to the bite, then it is, in principle, ready.

7. Now let's see what exactly we got. On the left are dry rice, on the right are steamed rice. You see, they are only slightly thicker than when dry, but they are very long (the length increases by 2-3 times). When cooked normally in water, as we are used to, the proportions of this rice are different - it is shorter, but thicker.

8. Well, congratulations, now you know how to cook basmati rice fluffy and long. Be sure to try it! By the way, steamed basmati rice, based on my experience, does not need to be eaten immediately: even after many hours it does not stick together, remains the same crumbly, and the softness of the rice even increases.