To Boil Rice for Mulbagatawny Soups, or for Curries
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Remove the unhusked grains from the rice.
Wash the rice in several waters.
Boil
Place the rice in a large pot with cold water.
Bring the water to a gentle boil, uncovered.
Remove any scum that rises while boiling.
Do not stir the rice except at the beginning to prevent lumping.
Boil the rice softly for 15 minutes until tender.
Add salt a couple of minutes before it's done.
Drain and dry
Drain the rice in a colander for 10 minutes near the fire.
If not dry, place it in a dish in a gentle oven or steam it near the fire.
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
- Its starch cooks into the tender, separate grains that make up the dish.
- Cold water
- Cooks the rice by gentle boiling and softens the grains as they absorb it.
- Salt
- Seasons the rice when added near the end of cooking.
The step that matters
Do not stir the rice except at the beginning. Stirring releases starch from the grains, which makes the rice sticky and lumpy as it cooks.
“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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