The Perfect Basmati Rice Recipe

5 from 1 vote

The Perfect Basmati Rice Recipe is something everyone who's interested in South Asian Cuisine needs to have at their fingertips.

Prep Time15

Cook Time10

Steam Time15

Total Time40

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Indian, Pakistani

Diet: Gluten Free

Keyword: basmati rice, easy rice, Fluffy Rice, Perfect Rice

Servings: people

Calories: 430kcal

Author: Nosheen Babar

Ingredients

2 cups Rice
3 cups Water
1 tsp Salt
3 tbsp Oil

Instructions

Rinse the rice and set it to soak for 15 minutes.
Throw the water the rice has been soaking in after 15 minutes and put the rice, 3 cups of water, salt and 2 tbsps of oil on the stove on high.
Cook on high till the rice has absorbed all but about 2 Tablespoons of the water.
reduce your heat to the lowest setting, cover the pot with foil, sealing tightly around the edges and cover with the lid.
After 15 minutes turn your stove off, remove the foil carefully as the steam that's released can cause burns and fluff your rice with a fork.
Drizzle the remaining 1 tbsp of oil before serving.

Notes

Rinsing The Rice - Rinsing the rice helps remove dirt, debris and excess surface starch. This results in fluffier rice so it's important not to skip this step.

Soaking The Rice - This helps the rice cook faster and better so it's best to do this.

Cooking The Rice - Since the rice has been soaked, it needs to be boiled at full heat and the water evaporated. This insures fluffy rice vs mushy rice.

Steaming The Rice - This step is the final one and is what allows each grain to be cooked all the way to the centre while remaining fluffy and separate.

Fluffing The Rice - Despite all the steps above, the rice tends to clump and stick together during the cooking process. As soon as you uncover the pot, use a fork to fluff and separate the grains.

Stovetop vs Instant Pot- While I've provided instructions for an Instant Pot method of cooking Basmati Rice above it's not my recommended OR my favorite. Yes it does shave off 20 minutes, but the results aren't as good. The reason is that the best pot for cooking rice is: wide, shallow and heavy bottomed. The instant Pot is the exact opposite. It's tall, deep and not too heavy at the bottom. This makes the rice clump together, so you don't get that perfect fluffy long grained texture that Basmati is famous for.

Nutrition