Rice aroma!

Keith H

Now, you will all be familiar with the beautiful fragrance associated with cooked Basmati. My cooked rice does not have this aroma despite buying what I'm told is some pretty good rice from my local Punjabi providor.
Does anybody have any tips or pointers for getting this fragrance from the rice?

girlfromvenus

maybe depends on how you cook the rice.

First wash the rice, then put some cold water with it (about 1 cm higher than the rice) and let it "soak" for at least 20 minutes.

Then you turn on the stove, the pot with the rice is of course covered, and let it cook until the water is disappearing and you get little "holes" in between the rice ---> this is the time to turn off the stove (I am talking about electrical stove here not gas) and let it finish with the rest heat.

At least this is how I am doing it and the rice smells and eats great.

Keith H

Girlfromvenus, I'll give that a go. I think my technique up until now may have been a major fail!

nycank

A dehraduni basmati rice even cooked simply has a distinct aroma... many a rice do get fobbed off as the real McCoy.

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namaste_cat

I agree.

Keith H - your basmati doesn't sound like the real thing Real basmati will always have that wonderful aroma, no question.

There are ways to check - length of grain, size, etc. to ensure you're getting real basmati. Course won't know till you open the bag. Here they sell big bags of basmati in jute, so I had to kiss a lot of frogs before I found a real basmati. Then 1 yr later, just my luck I couldn't find it anywhere!

I'm now using brown basmati sold in small clear bags, and never been happier. I only buy the white stuff when my Punjabi relatives visit.

Eastern Mind

Absolutely at least 4 times the flavor and aroma.

RWeHavingFunYet

Keith H: If you're looking for Basmati Rice fragrance, you should smell it when the rice is boiling. Looks like you got plain rice or else you got something which doesn't release basmati fragrance. Go back to the Punjabi guy and throw the rice in his face and tell him to give you the real Basmati Rice.

Making rice is easy. The ratio is 1:2, that is 1 cup rice to 2 cups water. Bring it to a boil and immediately set the temperature to sim and leave the lid covered for 20mins. It's done. Don't keep opening the lid or stir during those 20mins. Set a timer and switch it off.

REMEMBER: Rice is never cooked like meat or vegetables. It's steamed.

The best way to make rice is by using a rice cooker.

Here's a youtube video

Keith H

namaste_cat, as you say,it sounds like I have a problem with reliable supply. I will need to interrogate the guy at the shop a little better.

Keith H

rwehavingfunyet - yep - I agree!

Wanderer22

I've heard that some of the best basmati is aged for quite a long time... years? Can anyone shed light on this practice? Wonder what aging does to the flavour and aroma?

The brown stuff is becoming my favorite. Have been cooking it using an automatic rice cooker and have to add extra water so it cooks properly. How much water do people use when cooking brown basmati in a stove-top pot?

Would sure like to find a source for the rice I was served on a Kerala backwaters cruise. The grains were huge, several times the size of ordinary rice.

Decided to google a bit and this came up. http://www.indiacurry.com/rice/r001aboutrice.htm

(quote) What is Basmati Rice?

This is a long grain grain (four times longer than its width) grown primarily in North India and Pakistan.

In Hindi, Bas (aroma), Mati (mother), literally means 'mother of all aroma'. The Basmati grain contain 0.09 ppm of a the chemical compound (2-acetyl-1-pyrroline), which is about 12 times more concentration than un-scented rice varieties. This chemical compound is responsible for the fragrance.

W22

RWeHavingFunYet

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Does it look like this?: Rosematta rice.

Look in indian stores or south indian stores.

Wanderer22

That's it! Thank you very much. Now that I know what it's called will ask around the Indian shops in my area.

W22

Lou Wilson

Hi Glenn
Washing rice takes away the fragrance of basmati rice
Some over wash rice like 2 or 3 times and that kills it fragrance wise
Myself I just cook it with no washing.
Lou

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machadinha

Er, that's 1:1.5 with me. Never fails. (Well, using a good rice to begin with might help.) Use a firm pan with ditto bottom, to avoid burning. Cast iron works well. Use a heat divider (on a gas stove) as required (or what are those called in English? A small iron plate that goes under your pan to reduce the direct heat.) You basically want it to simmer on as low a heat as possible.

Note whole brown rice will require 45 mins. cooking rather.

It can't hurt btw to leave the rice to "linger" for a bit after cooking: Just turn off the heat, don't stir or nothing again, but leave to stand in its pot for 5-10 minutes or so. Then stir loose, as desired. (The thing with rice or any other grains is if you stir them inbetween while cooking, their molecular structure or what is it will fall apart, causing them to turn out soggy.)

Or steam it, indeed. Aside from modern electrified thingies, there exist traditional steaming pans (and in the west, too; yes, folks, it's how your grandmas used to cook); handy for cooking or heating up some other stuff as well, and some dishes will just require it.

I'd otherwise agree, a good basmati rice will be unmistakable by its smell. If you use it a lot, you might start noticing the smell as well as taste less, mind.

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NonIndianResident

Basmati or other fragrant rice will smell while cooking no matter what method you use. I don't know if washing excessively will remove the fragrance but I don't really think so.

Basmati always has unusually long grains. There are other varieties of delicious high quality fragrant rice that are not long-grained though, eg a wonderful Kashmiri variety, and Thai "jasmine" rice.

I like the suggestion that you go throw the rice in the vendor's face (not literally, but almost). If he's your most convenient nearby shop, you need to let him know from the beginning that you will not accept being ripped off. The non-fragrant rice may be perfectly fine for everyday use, but if you shut up and eat it without complaint the shopkeeper will have you labelled a certain way for future reference.