The Surprising Trick for Cooking Rice That Works for Any Grain

I've been using this technique for a decade, after I read Julie Sahni's Classic Indian Cooking, which is how I learned to make absolutely perfect basmati rice that's fluffy and not mushy. Sahni's recipe is ridiculously complex, but once you squint it's basically just the principle of cooking like pasta.

For basmati, the method is to boil water, add rice, cook for 4 minutes (some types of rice require more time) until al dente, then drain, quickly rinse in cold water and put back on stove to rest for 5-10 at a low temperature. To retain heat but avoid overcooking during the resting phase, I use a lid with a dish towel in between.

If I want to do more fancy rice, I use the absorption method, because it allows me to fry a bunch of stuff and retain the flavour, as nothing is poured out. For example, I will roast some cashews, add some butter or ghee, then the rice and water, and cook under a lid for 10 minutes. With basmati I found that the best water to rice ratio is 2:1 by weight. So for two people, use 150g rice and 300ml water.

Perhaps the best trick is to use an electric rice-cooker, then you need to think only about one parameter, the amount of water to add.

Also tried and recommended mentioned by America's Test Kitchen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phJOOVqEmL0

https://www.americastestkitchen.com/articles/4325-for-a-bett...

https://www.americastestkitchen.com/articles/8086-how-should...

You can also do the inverse and cook pasta like rice. Put pasta in a saucepan and just cover with water then bring to a boil until all the water has been absorbed, stirring occasionally. That has the advantage of keeping all the starch so you can get really creamy sauces. It’s great for mac and cheese.

With rice, this would also have the advantage of carrying away much of the arsenic.

https://health.osu.edu/wellness/exercise-and-nutrition/how-t...

Not a fan of the click-baity headline...

"Rice-cooker sellers hate this one trick!"

This method also washes away a lot of the starch and makes the rice way less sticky which I enjoy.