Most people face a challenge when it comes to cooking rice. It either ends up as a starchy mess or an under-cooked disaster.
The trick to getting rice right is to begin by buying the right rice. As a rule of the thumb, short and coarse rice grains take longer to cook and are less aromatic. These are best suited for Chinese or Thai cuisine. Fine and long grain rice cooks faster and has less starch. For risottos, paella or Indian rice dishes try and use the fine, long grain variety.
Wash the rice well before you start cooking it. This reduces the starch so the grains of rice are less likely to stick to each other.
Unless you are a pro, which most of us aren't, test the rice to see if it has cooked before taking it off the fire. Use a ladle, scoop up a few grains and check to see if they are tender.
Now that you're armed with the basics, go ahead and try these 3 great rice recipes.
Rice with Orange and Scallions
- Rind of 1 orange, pared and shredded
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 1/2 cups long grain rice
- Pinch of turmeric
- 2 scallions, sliced
- 2 tablespoons raisins
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
- Salt to taste
- 3 cups chicken stock
Begin by blanching the orange rind for half a minute in boiling water. Drain and refresh with cold water. Wash the rice well to remove excess starch so that you don’t end up with gummy and sticky rice. Once done, drain out the water from the rice and set aside.
Heat oil in a heavy-bottomed pan. Add in the rice, orange rind, turmeric, scallions, raisins, sugar, and fennel seeds. Stir and sauté for about a minute or till the rice turns translucent. Pour in the chicken stock and season with salt. Cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid and leave to simmer on a gentle heat for about 20 minutes or till the rice is cooked and most of the liquid has evaporated.
If at any point, you feel the rice is sticking to the bottom of the pan, just add a sprinkling of water to moisten the rice.
Nutty Corn Rice
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 oz. butter
- 6 oz. long grain rice
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1 can whole sweetcorn kernels, drained
- 8 oz. cold, cooked chicken, diced
- 2 oz. almonds, blanched and shredded
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 eggs, hard-boiled and sliced
- 2 oz. black olives
Wash rice well, drain and set aside.
Melt half of the butter in a deep pan and add the chopped onion. Fry till tender but not browned. Stir in the rice and stock. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes till rice is tender and the stock has evaporated. Stir in the sweetcorn, chicken, almonds, remaining butter. Simmer for another 5-7 minutes and then season to taste. Take off fire.
Garnish with the egg slices and black olives before serving.
Pulao
- 2 cups long grain rice
- 4 cups coconut milk
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 cloves
- 3 green cardamoms, lightly crushed
- 2 pieces of cinnamon, each about an inch
- Pinch of mace
- 2 tablespoon cilantro, chopped
- Salt to taste
Wash the rice to get rid of the extra starch. Drain and set aside.
Heat the oil in a large, heavy bottomed pan. Add the bay leaf, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and mace to the hot oil and fry for about a minute. Next, add the rice, turmeric and coconut milk and season with salt. Cover the pan with a tight fitted lid and cook over a gentle heat for about 20 minutes or till the rice is done and most of the liquid has evaporated.
Garnish with chopped cilantro before serving. This rice goes well with a lamb korma or a meatball curry.
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