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| Basic
Long Grain Rice Indian Style Recipe |
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Click any picture to enlarge
Many types of rice are cultivated over the world, but Indian dishes principally call for
long grain rice. It's fine to chuck some rice in boiling water for 20 minutes, but we show
you here how to get the most from long grain rice.
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KEY POINTS
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Pre-cooking Time: |
30 mins |
Cooking Time: |
25 mins |
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How Difficult |
Easy |
Freeze? |
No |
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Servings |
4 |
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INGREDIENTS
| Ingredients |
Imperial |
Metric |
| Basmati or American rice (see
cook's notes below) |
14 oz |
400 grams |
| Water |
27 fl oz |
800 ml |
| Salt |
½ level teaspoon |
Cook's Notes
Basmati and American rice are both long grained rice and either can be used for Indian
cooking. Basmati is more fragrant compared to American rice. Normally, Basmati rice is more
expensive.
Special Equipment
Largish pan with a lid
Method
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Wash and drain the rice four times in lots of water. This process will
remove much of the starch on the surface of the rice. Removing the starch helps stop
the individual grains of rice sticking to each other.
Leave the rice in a bowl of water for 20 minutes.
Pour the rice into a strainer, toss it a few times and leave it to drain for a few minutes. |
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Add the rice, 800ml water and salt to a covered pan on a medium high heat,
stir occasionally.
Immediately the water begins to boil (this will only take a couple of minutes) reduce the
heat to very low.
If you are using an electric hob and the heat cannot be lowered
immediately then transfer the covered pan to another ring and turn that to a very
low heat.
Cook the rice for 25 minutes stirring and checking it every 10 minutes.
If the rice is sticking to the bottom of the pan, stir in three tablespoons of
water.The idea behind cooking the rice on a very low heat with the pan covered,
is to part steam and boil it. |
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When the rice has finished cooking, remove it from the heat. Two tablespoons of
vegetable or olive oil can be added and stirred in at this stage. It adds a gloss to the
rice although it does not help separate the grains. Be aware though, the oil
will colour the rice slightly yellow which is not ideal in many cases. |
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If you are concerned about timing a large meal then leave the uncooked rice soaking
until you are 30 minutes away from needing the rice. Then start cooking it.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INDIAN RECIPES
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