There's something magical yet ubiquitous about rice. These pearly grains have been in my life forever. The perfect palette for every dollop of sauce, curry, and chutney. A welcome relief to spice and tang in every bite. But sometimes, like all truly reliable things, I take rice for granted -- often relegating it to the background. No more! Rice can hold its own.
Here's a simple recipe from my cookbook to elevate your meal from regular to restaurant quality!
Recipe
Ingredients:
1 cup of long grain white rice (preferably basmati or jasmine)
2 tablespoons of butter
1 heaping teaspoon of cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon of salt
Steps:
1. Cook the rice in the microwave, rice cooker, or on the stove. For the microwave method, combine 1 cup of rice with 2 cups of water in a large, glass microwavable bowl. Cook for about 15 minutes, uncovered. Ideally, you will not need to stir or add any extra water while the rice is cooking. For the stove-top method, combine 1 cup of rice with 2 cups of water in a medium pot and cook on medium heat, covered, for 15-20 minutes. (Keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn’t spill over or burn as it cooks. If it starts to spill over, partially uncover.)
2. In a small pan over low-medium heat, heat the butter for 4-5 minutes. The butter should turn brown and start to foam. (You can skim off the foam with a spoon to get more of a clarified butter/ghee taste.) Then add the cumin seeds to the hot brown butter and toast for about 1 minute, removing the pan from the heat before the cumin seeds darken too much or burn.
3. Combine the cooked rice with the cumin seeds and butter, and the salt. (A rubber spatula works well for getting all the butter from the pan.) Mix the rice well with two forks until it's evenly coated.