Cooking rice - An Indian-Mediterranean fusion

Cooking rice right is rewarding and very helpful. Here I give you a recipe for a plain rice inspired in the Indian cuisine. Apart from rice, it adds the flavors of ghee or olive oil and an aromatic spice.

However, if your search was for how to cook rice with nothing else added �just rice, salt and water� I explain this recipe for cooking rice here.

I cook this aromatic plain rice constantly, and I'm sure you will too, once you taste it. Indian are masters of rice cooking and I wanted to share with you a simple but fundamental rice recipe. It will help you countless times in the kitchen.

It combines with many other foods as accompaniment or side dish. For vegetarians, cooking rice in such a healthy way is invaluable, and it can also replace bread at lunch.

The best choice for cooking rice in this manner is basmati, true basmati if possible. However, my experience shows me it also works very well with long and short grain rice, and sticky rice.

Regarding the healthy fat, you can choose between ghee and olive oil. Both work and both make cooking rice easy.

In fact, because traditionally Catalan cuisine often combines olive oil and lard in the same recipe, I have experimented with combining ghee and olive oil in this rice recipe with remarkable success.

What cooking utensil is suitable for cooking rice

A suitable kitchen utensil for 1� cups of rice is a casserole or saucepan with a lid of approximately 7 to 8 inches (20 cm) in diameter.

Use a saucepan with a thick bottom if you have one. It will make rice cooking much more reliable.

Finally, 1 measure of rice to 2 measures of water is the usual ratio of rice to water.

Ingredients for cooking rice

Serves 4 to 6

1� cups (12 ounces or 350 g) rice
3 cups (0.75 cl) hot water
1 tablespoon ghee or 2 tablespoons olive oil
1 level teaspoon salt or to taste
1 pinch black cumin seeds

Directions for how to cook rice

Preparation time: 4 minutes.
Cooking time: 14 to 18 minutes.

First wash the rice thoroughly. A good method is to add it to a strainer and put it under running water for some minutes. Stir the rice with your hand or a wooden spoon to rinse it properly. Drain it.

In the meantime, bring water to a boil.

Add the ghee or olive oil to a saucepan, heat it and add the cumin seeds. Sautee for a moment over medium heat stirring all the time with a wooden spoon.

Now stir in the rice and mix well. Add the salt and the water and stir briefly. Bring to a boil and cook uncovered for 5 minutes over medium-high heat.

The 5 minutes can be extended to 7 minutes if you feel it's necessary. When you see that there's no excess of water on the surface and the rice begins to build small craters, it's time to put the lid and turn the heat down. This usually happens after 5 to 7 minutes of cooking the rice uncovered.

Turn the heat to low and cover with the lid. Simmer for 9 minutes more. Do not stir. The rice should absorb all the water.
- 14 minutes into the total cooking time, taste a few grains of rice to see if you have to simmer it a few more minutes or it's already tender.
For sticky rice, after turning the heat to low, leave the lid slightly ajar.

When the rice is tender, turn off or remove from heat and let it sit covered for 3 to 5 minutes.