Saade Chawal (Plain Boiled Rice)

Rice is cooked in plenty of boiling water with a pinch of salt till tender. The water is drained off then.
The plain boiled rice is usually served with one of the thick soupy curries such as: Rajma, Chholay, Kadhi, Khatti Dal or Sabit Masoor Dal etc.

The boiled rice can be stored in refrigerator overnight that would make it more dry and firm. It can be then used to make fried rice with different ingredients.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Rice
• 6-8 cups of water
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 green cardamom
• 1tsp lemon juice

Method:

• Wash and rinse rice in cold water till the water runs clear.
• Add 6-8 cups of water to a large stock pot.
• Bring water to a rolling rapid boil.
• Do not turn heat down. Add rice, salt, cardamom and lemon juice; and stir. Let it come to a rolling boil again.
• Cook rice in rapidly boiling water for 10-15 minutes or till the rice is just tender. Turn off heat. Transfer the contents to a colander to drain out as much water as possible.
• Heat empty stock pot on the stove for 3-4 seconds and then turn off the heat. Transfer rice from colander to warm stock pot. Let it rest for about 10 minutes. The remaining moisture will be absorbed and rice will get drier. Do not stir rice.

Do You Know?

Polished rice is the white rice which is buffed with glucose or talc powder.

Despite the hypothetical health risks of talc (such as stomach cancer), talc-coated rice is preferred in some countries due to its attractive shiny appearance, but it has been banned in some and is no longer widely used in others such as the United States.

Even where talc is not used, glucose, starch, or other coatings may be used to improve the appearance of the grains; for this reason, many rice lovers still recommend washing all rice in order to create better-tasting rice with a better consistency, despite the recommendation of suppliers.

Much of the rice produced today is water polished.