No matter how many pizzas or pasta we indulge in throughout the week, there is nothing that can beat a humble dal-chawal bowl. A hearty serving of dal generously spread over a bed of hot, fluffy rice, served with a piece of our favourite achaar or a bowl of raita - there, we saw you slurping! The dal and rice combination is even more enticing on chilly winter afternoons when all you want to do is eat and relax. However, there are times when we don't get perfectly steamed rice, ruining our entire experience. Has this ever happened to you? If so, don't fret! While going through all the queries we receive from our readers, we found that most of the queries were about 'how to stream rice' or 'how long do you steam rice for' and many more. So we decided to share a few tips that would help you in getting perfectly steamed rice with minimal effort. Take a look below.
Here're Some Tips To Make The Perfect Steamed Rice:
1. How Long Do You Steam Rice?
In a 4-quart wide heavy pot, bring rice and water (3 3/4 cups) to a boil and cook, uncovered, without stirring, until steam holes appear in rice and grains on surface appear dry, 5 to 7 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid for 15 minutes.
2. Rinse The Rice
You can benefit from rinsing the rice in a variety of ways, but one of them is that it prevents stickiness. If you don't want sticky rice, rinse it 2 to 3 times or until the water in the bowl is clear. Rinsing rice removes excess starch, resulting in tender, less sticky rice.
3. Add Oil
Vegetable oil that floats on top prevents evaporation, which means the water retains a greater portion of the heat from the stove and boils more quickly. In addition to accelerating the process, adding a teaspoon of oil to the saucepan before cooking the rice can keep the rice moist and prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
4. Use Stock to Add Flavour
Instead of cooking rice in water, think about using stock, vegetable stock, or chicken stock to give it a little more flavour.
5. Rice To Water Ratio
This is the most crucial. The rice-to-water ratio makes a significant difference in the final product of steamed rice. You must have the ideal rice-to-water ratio. The ratio is frequently affected by the type of rice used. So, if you're using long-grain rice, start with a 1: 2 ratio, or 1 cup of long-grain rice and 2 cups of water. Similar considerations apply to medium-grain rice; however, brown rice requires more water and cooking time.
That's all! Follow these tips and let us know how they worked for you in the comment section below.