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.
The Easy Way to Cook Basmati Rice
When it’s time to cook your basmati, scoop some out of your storage
container directly into a dry cooking pot with a lid. Keep in mind that basmati
is more filling than many other varieties of white rice, so you may have to
cook a little bit less per person. Add water and rinse off the rice. Some
basmati comes to you very clean, but often you will find that when you rinse
it, a greasy white film appears in the water. Pour out most of the rinse water
(it’s OK to leave a little), add more water, and rinse repeatedly until the
rinse water is fairly clear as you pour it off. Then refill the pot until the
water is about an inch above the level of the rice. If you have time, you can
let it soak this way for five to ten minutes, but if you don’t want to wait,
you can start cooking it immediately at this point.
Put the pot on high heat and add a teaspoon to a tablespoon of ghee. Ghee, a
staple of Indian cooking, is basically liquid butter. It’s extremely rich and
fattening, so your best bet is not to use too much. If you don’t have ghee, use
butter or margarine. (To my Western palate, butter and margarine taste better
when added to give flavor to cooked food, but ghee is better for cooking.) You
don’t have to stir in the ghee, as it will get absorbed into the rice on its
own. Then squeeze in the juice of about one-quarter of a lemon or lime, more if
you are cooking a lot of rice. (Lemons and limes, or nimbu, are pretty
much interchangeable in Indian cooking.)
When the water begins to boil, stir once, then lower the heat and cover it.
You don’t need to stir basmati too often – just let it cook. You only have to
be careful that it doesn’t burn. After a few minutes, check the rice. If it is
almost done, you will see no water, and steam vents will have formed in the
rice. Stir once. If there is still liquid, lower the heat again and let it cook
a little more. If you don’t see any liquid, turn the heat off and replace the
lid. Any residual water will get absorbed while the rice sits.
Spicing Up Your Basmati Rice
A simple way to add a little more flavor is to add a few cardamom seeds to
the boiling water. If you want a stronger flavor to contrast with the rice, you
can change the preparation directions as follows. While you are soaking your
rice in other container, put a little ghee in the bottom of the pot and brown
about a tablespoon of finely chopped onion. You can also add some fresh peas
(not enough to overpower the rice). When the onion is brown, add the rice with
lukewarm water.
Although basmati is generally associated with South Asian cooking, you can
also use it for a large number of Western rice dishes, such as rice pilaf and
jambalaya. You can also use it instead of the traditional Spanish rice in Latin
American dishes. Try it – get hooked on basmati rice today!