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Plain Old Rice

27th April 2016 By Urvashi Roe

I know this is a bit of an obvious recipe but my husband simply cannot make good rice and in all my classes we have a big discussion on how to make the bestest, fluffiest rice!

So here is how I do it…

Some basics before you start.

1. Buy good quality Basmati Rice rather than sticky rice or wild rice.  It’s easier to cook and gives you lovely soft fluffy rice that shouldn’t stick together.

2. By all means use wild rice mixed with basmati rice for your meals but cook them separately as they are different types of rice and thus will cook at different times.

3. Wash the rice in cold water beforehand to get rid of the starch that makes it sticky.  Don’t handle it too much or you’ll break up the beautiful long grains.  Just pour some cold water in, stir it gently with your fingers or a fork and then pour the water out.  Do this 5 or 6 times and you’ll see the water getting lighter in colour as the starch is removed.

4. Soak the rice for at least half an hour and this will remove even more of the starch.

Copyright Urvashi Roe_rice

Plain old rice

To make it

  • 1 bowl of rice
  • 3 bowls of water

It doesn’t matter what size bowl you use, as long as you use the same one for the rice and the water.  In general terms one fistful of rice is enough for one person.  This is what my mother taught me.

  1. Prepare the rice using the basic advice above.  If you don’t have time to leave the rice to soak, then at least wash it through 5 or 6 times to get rid of some of the starch.
  2. Put the rice and the water into a large saucepan and simply bring it to the boil.
  3. Let it boil for about 5 minutes and you should have rice that breaks easily and is soft but not soggy.  If you’ve followed the proportions above your rice should not have stuck to the bottom of the pan or run out of water.
  4. Pour the rice into colander and leave to drain for a few minutes.
  5. Spoon into your serving dish and serve steaming hot.

If you want to flavour the rice slightly you can add a few tablespoons of ghee and  some cumin seeds before spooning into your serving dish.  My favourite snack, which I ate amazing amounts of when pregnant, was steaming hot rice with ghee and a little salt!

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Hi I'm Urvashi!

I love food. This blog is a little glimpse into my foodie world which is an escape from two teenage girls, a busy job and my little cafe.

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