Restaurant Style Indian Rice Recipe

Perfectly cooked basmati rice garnished with cardamom and whole spices.

4.82 from 11 votes

Master the art of cooking spiced Indian rice with this easy-to-follow Indian basmati rice recipe. With my practical tips, you will get light, fluffy grains every time.

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 20

Servings

Author Sravanthi Chanda

Ingredients

1 cup basmati rice
4 cups water
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon oil
¼ teaspoon lemon juice

Spices

10 peppercorns
2 bay leaves
1 inch cinnamon stick
¼ teaspoon caraway seeds
4 cloves
4 cardamom

Instructions

Rinse the rice thoroughly at least 2 to 3 times.
If you have time, soak the rice. Drain the soaked rice in a colander before starting the cooking process.
Heat a cooking pot and add water. Add spices, salt, and oil to this water.
Let the water boil, and you can see that the color of the water is changed.
Add the drained rice to this boiling water.
Let the rice cook on medium to high flame until it is 80% cooked. It took me 8 to 9 minutes.
Remove the pot from the flame and drain the rice into a strainer. Discard the water and add the strained rice back to the cooking pot.
Cover the pot and heat for a minute, then turn off the flame. Let it sit for 10 minutes, and your fluffy, restaurant-style Indian rice will be ready!

Notes

Here are my top tips for achieving the fluffy texture of the rice, just like how you get in Indian restaurants.

Rinse the rice at least 2 to 3 times to remove that extra starch.
Once the rice is 80 % cooked, drain it into a colander. When we transfer it back to the container and steam it, the rice will be perfectly cooked.
Add a few drops of lemon juice while the rice is cooking.
Adding a teaspoon of oil will prevent the rice grains from sticking together. You can also add a teaspoon of ghee for a better flavor and aroma.
To get that restaurant-style long grains, always use aged rice. Aged grains will remain long and separate after cooking.

Nutrition