People who eat basmati rice will tell you that it’s the best rice in the
world. After you’ve eaten it, you probably won’t be satisfied with any other
variety. Home-cooked basmati, properly prepared, offers the perfect combination
of chewy texture and delicate aroma.
Basmati rice is grown in South Asia, which is to say
that it is best when imported from India
and Pakistan.
In New York City, South Asian
groceries, of which there are dozens, sell varieties of basmati in five-, ten-,
and twenty-pound bags. It’s worth it, especially if you have a large family and
you eat rice every day. If you live in a community where you can’t buy basmati
this way, you may be able to find American-grown varieties in a normal grocery,
or you can easily find South Asian groceries online and order the rice shipped
to you.
When you open your bag of imported basmati – often an elaborate process, as
you may have to penetrate as many as three layers, such as a zipper, a seam,
and an inner plastic bag – take time to enjoy the delicate fragrance. Then pour
it into a large storage container with a lid that’s easy to remove. Don’t leave
your basmati in a container that pests can get into. Mice, for example, like
the smell and will gladly chew through paper packaging in search of sustenance.