For the best cooked, and separate fluffy grained rice use basmati rice. This rice has thin and long pointy grains and is generally much more expensive than the other varieties of rice. While cooking rice, always measure the rice by its volume and not by the weight. Use a measuring vessel and measure about 65ml or 2.5oz of rice per person, so 260ml for four people. The amount of liquid you will need is about double the amount of rice. So, 120 ml of rice needs 240 ml of water, 200 ml of rice needs 400 ml of water and so on.
Use a frying pan with a lid for the best results while cooking separate fluffy rice. The shallower the rice is spread out when cooking, the better it will be cooked. If you do not have such a utensil, try to find a large sauce pan lid and use it to cover your normal frying pan. First, fry some onions which can add flavor but aren’t necessary. Now add the rice (its not necessary to wash it as its already cleaned while milling and washing just washes away the ingredients). Now keep turning the grains over till they are all coated in oil. This will help to keep the grains of the rice separate.
Now add boiling water to the measuring jug and measure out the exact amount of water you will need and pour it into the pan. Add salt to taste (about 1 teaspoon for every 1ml of rice). Alternatively, you can use stock if you intend to serve this rice with chicken or beef. Use chicken stock for this chicken and beef stock for the beef. You could also use fish stock to serve with fish.
Once the hot water is added, stir just once or else you will break the grains and will release enough starch to make the rice sticky. Now cover the lid of the pan and turn down the heat to the lowest setting possible. Set a timer to ensure you will remove it once cooked. For white rice, the approximate time taken to cook is 15 minutes and it is about 40 minutes for brown rice. The best way to test if rice is cooked or not is to bite a grain of rice.
Once the rice is cooked, take the lid off. Turn off the heat and place a clean cloth to cover the pan for about 10 minutes. This will help absorb the steam and as a result the grains will be separate and dry. Fluff up the grains gently with a fork or a skewer before serving. Serve hot.
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