Method of Boiling Rice
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the rice
Wash the rice thoroughly, checking for small stones and husks.
Place the rice in a saucepan and cover it with boiling water.
Cover the saucepan and let it sit off the heat for 15 minutes.
Drain the water and return the rice to the heat for 2 minutes, stirring with a fork to dry it.
Soaking method
Alternatively, soak the rice in cold water for 1 hour.
Place the soaked rice in a saucepan and cover with hot water, adding 1 teaspoon of salt for every teacup of rice.
Boil for 10 minutes.
Drain the water.
Cover the saucepan tightly and let it sit by the fire for a few minutes until dry.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Patna rice
- Forms the bulk of the dish; its starch gelatinises with water and heat to make the grains tender.
- Boiling water
- Supplies the moisture that the rice absorbs and cooks in, softening the starch.
The step that matters
Drain and dry the rice before serving. Excess water left on the cooked grains makes them clump and turn soggy. Returning the drained rice to gentle heat or letting it sit covered lets surface moisture evaporate so the grains stay separate.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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