Say goodbye to stodgy rice and make every Indian curry night a winner with this perfect basmati rice recipe using a pot on the stovetop.
If you’ve made Indian restaurant style curry broth, your efforts should be rewarded with perfect fluffy basmati rice to accompany your curries. When it comes to Indian food, basmati is the rice of choice, and preparing it in a rice cooker makes life easy.
Ingredients For Perfect Basmati Rice
As well as a few important steps in preparation and cooking, one of the key elements of perfect basmati rice is, of course, the rice itself. If you’ve followed the rinsing and cooking tips in this recipe and still aren’t delighted with the results, it’s worth switching to a different brand of basmati rice in order to achieve better results. I like Biona Himalayan Basmati Rice.
- Basmati Rice
- Water
How To Make Perfect Basmati Rice
To make fluffy rice, excess starch first needs to be rinsed from the rice. You can buy a rice rinsing bowl to do this, or simply use a fine mesh sieve over a bowl. With rice rinsed three times (or as needed until water runs clear), it’s added to a pot, covered with fresh water and ready to cook.
Step 1: Wash & Soak Rice
Put 150 grams basmati rice in a colander over a bowl and cover with water. Mix gently by hand, drain cloudy water, replace with fresh water and mix gently again. Repeat once or twice more until water runs clear and rice is rinsed of excess starch.
Step 2: Cook Basmati Rice
Transfer the rinsed rice to a pot and cover with 300 millilitres water. Heat on medium-high, and as soon as the water begins to boil, reduce the heat to the lowest available setting and cover with a lid. Cook the rice for 12 minutes. After this time, remove the rice from the heat and set aside for another 10 minutes, leaving the lid on throughout the entire process.
Step 3: Serve
Fluff up basmati rice with a rice spoon or fork and serve.
Basmati Rice Recipe Tips
Rinse & Soak: Rinsing the rice of any excess starch and soaking in fresh water briefly results in large grains of fluffy basmati rice, perfect served with Indian curry dishes.
Storage & Reheating: Cool leftover basmati rice quickly, cover and set aside in the fridge for up to 2 days. Reheat cooked basmati rice thoroughly in a microwave or frying pan until piping hot.
I hope you’ll try this perfect basmati rice recipe. If you do, let me know in the comments how it went!
Perfect Basmati Rice (Stovetop Method)
Equipment
- 1 pot with a tight fitting lid
Ingredients
- 150 grams basmati rice
- 300 millilitres water
Instructions
- Put 150 grams basmati rice in a colander over a bowl and cover with water. Mix gently by hand, drain cloudy water, replace with fresh water and mix gently again. Repeat once or twice more until water runs clear and rice is rinsed of excess starch.
- Transfer the rinsed rice to a pot and cover with 300 millilitres water. Heat on medium-high, and as soon as the water begins to boil, reduce the heat to the lowest available setting and cover with a lid. Cook the rice for 12 minutes. After this time, remove the rice from the heat and set aside for another 10 minutes, leaving the lid on throughout the entire process.
- Fluff up basmati rice with a rice spoon or fork and serve.
Basmati Rice Recipe FAQ
Why is my basmati rice stodgy?
Stodgy rice can be the result of excess starch. To avoid this, choose a good quality brand of rice and rinse rice thoroughly in several changes of water until water runs clear before cooking.
Do I need to rinse rice before cooking?
It’s a good idea to rinse excess starch from rice to ensure soft, fluffy individual grains and not stodgy rice. But, some people don’t rinse their rice at all – if you can find a brand that gives good results without rinsing, by all means do what works for you! But as a general rule, excess starch makes inferior rice and so should be rinsed off before cooking.
Do I need a rice cooker?
Whilst it’s possible to make perfect rice in a pot on the stovetop, a rice cooker makes life much easier, and delivers perfect rice every time. As well as producing good results, a standalone rice cooker also leaves hob space free to cook other dishes. If you cook and eat rice regularly, it’s definitely worth investing in a rice cooker.
How do Indian restaurants and takeaways make rice colourful?
With turmeric, or food colouring! In the case of turmeric rice, simply adding a pinch to the water before cooking your rice will suffice. Or, you can make pilau rice, infused with onion and aromatic whole spices.
Do you like this Indian takeaway style basmati rice recipe? If so, buying a copy of my book might appeal to you! In The Indian Takeaway Secret you can find a host of restaurant style recipes that you can make at home. You’ll learn how to make vegetable pakora, chicken tikka, paneer cheese and more! You can buy The Indian Takeaway Secret in paperback or kindle form here.
- McGovern, Kenny (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 256 Pages – 05/06/2021 (Publication Date) – Robinson (Publisher)
