How to cook Basmati Rice(Absorption Method)

 When I got married to the love of my life, I didn't even know how to cook rice. Do I need to add salt? Do I need to soak the rice? How long does it need to be cooked? More importantly, how do I cook the rice? Oh GOSH! The questions in my mind were endless and I had thought I knew all about cooking. We eat a lot of steaming hot rice at home. My husband prefers rice to rotis. Our favourite is basmati rice. The difference in the way my mom cooked rice and my mom in law cooked rice is that my mom uses brown rice and my mom in law uses sona masoori rice. However, for certain  rice dishes, on special days and when guests come both of them only use basmati rice.

Basmati rice is a long grain rice which has a unique fragrance. Most of the time whole spices(cloves, cardamom,cinnamon etc..) and herbs or lemon juice are added to it while cooking rice for aroma. When its cooked it should be soft and fluffy with each grain separate yet not mushy. It should look like white long pearl. You can have with a simple dal or you can make a rich  biriyani with it. I use absorption method to cook rice at home and the same method is used for cooking jasmine rice and sona masoori rice. Always use the best quality rice you can afford, I have been using India Gate for years.

Ingredients:-

2 cup Basmati Rice

3.5 cups Water 

2 pinches Salt 

A clove, cardamom and cinnamon piece

1 tsp ghee (optional)

Method:-

Wash the rice with room temperature clean water till d water starts getting clear. Soak the rice for 30 minutes in room temperature water. This helps in elongating the rice,

In a pot mix the water, ghee, spices and salt and bring to a boil.(If you have not soaked the rice, for 2 cups rice use 4 cups water). Add the rice and bring the water back to boil Cover the pot with a tight fitting lid and cook for 15 minutes on low heat. If the lid is not tight enough use an aluminium foil to seal the pan. After 15 minutes put off the heat and let it rest for another 5 minutes, 

Serve the rice hot with dal or chicken curry. 

Happy Cooking!