Fragrant Indian rice (Spiced Basmati rice)

Do you love fragrant Indian rice served by your favorite restaurant? Then make it easily at home using this foolproof recipe. This Indian spiced basmati rice is a great side dish for any curry & dal.

What is Basmati rice?

Basmati is a long, slender, and aromatic rice variety. Its floral aroma and nutty taste make it unique. Due to its texture, smell, and size, it is considered the king of all types of rice.

Basmati rice is best for pilafs and as a side dish for curries. Long, tender, fluffy rice soaks up curry flavors very well.

Ingredients

Basmati rice: Long-grain aged basmati rice will yield long, fluffy rice. You can get this variety easily on any online store. You can also get them in an Indian supermarket.

Water: As we were making spiced rice, I used plain water. 

Spices: I used whole spices to make the flavored rice. I recommend whole spices only, and you can skip one or two if they are unavailable. The main spice here is the caraway seeds. These will impart the flavor to the rice.

Oil: A teaspoon of oil will make the rice grains fluffy. You can use vegetable oil, coconut oil, or any of your choice. If you are not vegan, you can also use butter or ghee.

Lemon juice: A few drops of lemon juice will make the rice fluffy, and the grains will be separate. It will also prevent the discoloration of rice and yield bright white rice.

How to make perfect restaurant-style Indian rice at home

Follow these steps to get the most fluffy and flavorful basmati rice. I prefer to soak the rice, but you could skip the soaking step if you are out of time.

Step 1 - Rinsing

Rinse the basmati rice at least 2 to 3 times. Rinsing removes the excess starch from the rice and helps make fluffy rice, just like your favorite restaurant.

Step 2 - Soaking

Though soaking is optional, it will make the rice fluffy, as soaking will remove extra starch from the rice.

Once the rice is soaked, drain the water completely from the rice and keep it aside.

Step 3 - Cooking

We can make spiced rice using two methods. The first is the "Drain" method, where rice is cooked like pasta, and excess water is drained. The other is the "Absorption" method, in which rice is cooked using the right amount of water.

How to cook basmati rice using the drain method

Boiling

Heat a cooking pot and add 4 cups of water. To this water, add spices, salt, and oil.

Let the water boil, and you can see that the color of the water is changed.

Add the rinsed, soaked, and drained rice to this boiling water.

Let the rice cook on medium to high flame until it is cooked as you like. It took around 8 to 9 minutes for me.

Draining

After the rice is almost cooked, take the pot out of the flame. And drain the rice into a strainer. Discard the water and add the strained rice back to the cooking pot.

Steaming

Close the cooking pot with the lid and heat it again for a minute or two. This will help in evaporating residual water. Then, switch off the flame and let it sit aside for about 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, fluff the rice with the fork. Finally, the delicious Indian spiced basmati rice is ready to serve.

Spiced Basmati rice using the absorption method

• Heat a thick-bottomed cooking pot or saucepan over medium heat.

• Once it is hot, add oil and all the spices one by one - bay leaves, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon stick, peppercorn, and caraway seeds.

• When these spices start spluttering, add water and salt to the pot.

• Let the water come to a boil. Now you can increase the flame to high.

• Add the drained rice and lemon juice to the boiling water and mix it well.

• Cook the rice on medium to high flame until it starts boiling, for around 4 to 5 minutes. Cover the pot partially with the lid.

• Now reduce the heat to low and close the pot completely with the lid. Let the rice cook on low flame until all the water is absorbed. It will take around 5 to 6 minutes.

• Stir the rice carefully using a wooden spatula or a fork to check the water content. Be gentle so that the rice is not broken down.
• By the time all the water is absorbed, rice will be cooked. If you see that the rice is undercooked, you can add a couple of tablespoon of water and cook for a couple of more minutes.
• Switch off the flame and close the pot with the lid. Keep it aside for around 10 minutes. The residual heat will cook the rice. If you use a gas burner, take the pot aside so it will not get more heat.

• After 10 minutes, fluff the rice with a fork, and the aromatic and delicious Indian spiced rice is ready to serve along with your favorite curry or dal.

Recipe Notes and tips

• If you have never cooked rice, I suggest you use the drain method, as it is easy and will yield fluffy rice.
• You can use cumin seeds if you do not have caraway seeds. Cumin seeds will not give the same flavor as caraway seeds, but they will impart a nice flavor.
• Rice cooked using the absorption method will be more flavorful when compared to the drain method, as we are not draining the water.
• As we drain the excess water from the rice, the rice cooked using the drain method will be less spicy. If you wish, you could double the quantity of the spices.
• If you like fluffy rice like the one you get in restaurants, use the drain method for cooking the rice. Rice will absorb more water using this method of cooking, and it will yield fluffy rice. And as we are draining residual water, excess starch will be removed from the rice.
• For the drain method of cooking rice, use 4 cups of water for every 1 cup of basmati rice.
• For the absorption method and if you are smoking the basmati rice for at least 30 minutes, use 1.75 cups of water for every 1 cup of basmati rice. If you are skipping the soaking step, you will need around 2 to 2.25 cups of water.

Variations

If you are using the absorption method to cook the rice, you can flavor the rice with more ingredients to make these variations.

Peas Rice: Once the spices start spluttering, add fresh or frozen peas and fry them for a couple of minutes. Then add water, rice and cook it as per the recipe. You can even use chopped onions along with peas to flavor it more. 

Vegetable pilau: Like peas rice, you can use frozen or fresh veggies to make the vegetable pilaf. Saute the veggies along with spices and cook them with rice. You might need to add more water as veggies will absorb the water.

Turmeric rice: Along with spices, add half a teaspoon of turmeric powder and immediately add the water. Cook the rice as per the recipe, and the delicious and aromatic turmeric rice will be ready.

Saffron rice: Usually, restaurants use saffron to flavor the rice. Soak 10 to 15 strands of saffron in a tablespoon of water or milk and keep it aside. Once you make the spiced rice, pour this saffron water or milk on the rice and keep it aside for about 10 minutes. The residual heat will cook the rice further and flavor it. Before serving, mix the rice gently using a fork or spatula. 

Serving suggestions

This spiced basmati rice goes very well with any Indian curry or dal. Some of my favorite curry and dal recipes that go well with this rice are

Storage

You can keep this rice at room temperature for around 10 to 12 hours (like regular rice). And you can refrigerate the rice for 2 to 3 days. Like regular rice, you can freeze this basmati rice also.

And I usually steam the rice to reheat the refrigerated rice.

FAQ

More Indian-style rice recipes that are full of flavor

Tomato rice with mung beans

Chickpeas rice

Brown lentil and rice pilaf

Kidney beans and rice pilaf

Rice cooker basmati rice

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Recipe