To Boil Rice for Muixagatawny Soups, or for Curries
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the rice
Remove any unhusked grains from the rice and wash it in two or three changes of water.
Boil and drain
Place the rice in a large pot with cold water and bring it to a gentle boil, uncovered.
Boil the rice softly for 15 minutes until tender, ensuring each grain remains distinct.
A couple of minutes before it's done, add salt and remove any scum that rises during boiling.
Drain the rice in a colander and let it sit for 10 minutes near the fire.
If the rice is not completely dry, transfer it to a dish and place it in a gentle oven or steam it in a clean saucepan near the fire.
Do not stir the rice except at the beginning to prevent lumping; shake the saucepan occasionally if needed.
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 main starch base; cooking it in water makes the grains tender while staying separate.
- Salt
- Seasons the rice and is added near the end of boiling so it does not interfere with cooking.
The step that matters
Boiling the rice softly without stirring. A gentle boil keeps grains from breaking apart, and stirring releases surface starch that makes rice gluey and clumped.
“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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