I'm always and forever trying to make rice like they make at Indian or Persian restaurants. It's so delicious, fluffy and flavorful and I love the texture of basmati rice. So, I was talking to a friend who makes rice alot and he helped me with the recipe. The idea is to sautee the rice first and add ingredients that will give it flavor such as garlic, onion, spices etc. I serve the rice with beans or tofu, either sauteed or in a curry sauce. Rice is just so amazing, it's simple but nutritious and is a great alternative to bread or other grains.
I made this recipe in a pot instead of my rice cooker because both methods are so different. If you love your rice cooker, you can still add butter or oil and salt and definitely bay leaves. It takes care of the timing for you so if you make rice in a pot, make sure you keep an eye on your watch. I think the pot method takes less time but that could just be my rice cooker brand. There are so many different kinds of rice out there so do your research and try different ones; I bought Trader Joe's organic basmati rice for this recipe. I also love wild rice but it's a completely different texture than basmati. I've also made sushi rice for my sushi recipes and short grain brown rice.
Recipe
1 tbsp of oil or butter
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 bay leaves
1 cup of rice
1.5 cups of water
Sea salt to taste
Heat the oil/butter with the bay leaves and garlic for 3 minutes over high heat. Add sea salt. Let the garlic get a little brown. Add the rice and mix. The idea is to coat the rice with the oil/butter.
Add the water and turn the heat on high until it boils. The rice should be completely covered with water.
Add more sea salt.
After the water boils, lower the heat, cover and let simmer for 15 minutes
Shut off the heat and do not uncover for 5 minutes to let the steam finish the cooking process. Resist the urge to uncover the rice. If you do, stir the rice but cover again for 5 minutes and turn off the heat.
I made the rice with both butter and oil so choose which one you wish. I used 2 tbsp of butter versus 1 tbsp of oil because after I made it with oil, I wanted more flavor. I also added more salt in the butter batch. The butter/more salt version was of course tastier and mimicked restaurant caliber rice.
