Steamed Basmati Rice

What Steamed Basmati Rice is

Plain basmati is the base almost every curry is eaten with, and the whole job is keeping the grains distinct. That comes down to three things: rinsing the surface starch away, soaking so the grain hydrates evenly, and not disturbing it while it steams. Cooked right it smells faintly of popcorn and the grains double in length rather than width.

Dietary: VegetarianVegan if made without gheeGluten-free

Where it comes from

Basmati is grown in the Himalayan foothills of India, Pakistan and Nepal, and is aged deliberately — a year or more in storage dries the grain so it absorbs water without swelling sideways. That ageing is why a bag of new-season rice cooks stickier than an aged one, and why good basmati costs what it does.

How to eat it

Rice is the plate, not a side. Spoon curry onto the portion of rice you are eating now and leave the rest dry — flooding the whole plate at the start makes the last mouthfuls cold and soggy. Eaten by hand, you use the fingertips of the right hand to mix a small amount with the curry and press it into a loose ball. A dry, separate grain is considered the mark of a cook who knows what they are doing.

Goes well with

• Any curry with gravy
• Dal
• Plain yoghurt and pickle

Ingredients

• 300 g Basmati rice
• 450 ml Water — A 1:1.5 ratio by volume after soaking.
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Ghee or oil — Optional; helps the grains stay separate.
• 2 pods Green cardamom — Optional aromatic.
• 1 Bay leaf — Optional aromatic.

How to cook it

1. 1Rinse until the water runs clear

   Rinse the rice in several changes of cold water, swirling with your fingers, until the cloudiness is gone. That cloud is loose surface starch and it is what glues grains together in the pot.

2. 2Soak for thirty minutes

   Cover with cold water and leave for thirty minutes, then drain well. Soaked grain hydrates from the outside in at an even rate, so it cooks through without the outside turning to paste first.

3. 3Bring to a boil once, then drop the heat

   Combine the drained rice, measured water, salt, ghee and aromatics. Bring to a boil uncovered, then immediately cover and reduce to the lowest heat.

4. 4Leave it alone for twelve minutes

   Do not lift the lid and do not stir. Every look releases the steam that is doing the cooking, and stirring breaks grains and releases starch.

5. 5Rest off the heat for ten minutes

   Take the pan off the heat, still covered, and leave it. The residual steam finishes the grains at the top and firms up the ones at the base.

6. 6Fluff with a fork, not a spoon

   Lift and separate gently with a fork. A spoon presses and compacts; a fork lifts. Remove the cardamom and bay before serving.

Calories and nutrition

Per serving — 1 bowl, cooked (about 180 g)

Approximate values for a typical restaurant portion, calculated from standard ingredient tables. Actual figures vary with the kitchen, the oil used and the portion served. Not intended as medical or dietary advice.

Other dishes to read about

• Chicken Momo — Nepal's steamed dumpling, eaten by hand with a bowl of sesame-tomato achar.
• Veg Momo — The vegetarian momo, where the filling has to be seasoned harder to carry itself.
• Butter Chicken — Tandoori chicken finished in a tomato and cream gravy — mild, and deliberately so.
• Lamb Curry — Bone-in lamb cooked slowly until the sauce thickens around it.
• Chicken Biryani — Rice and marinated chicken layered raw, then sealed and steamed together.
• Mutton Biryani — The same method as chicken biryani, but the meat sets the timing.