Rice: Everything you need to know about South Asian rice

As an ABCD, your parents served you rice all the time.
If you were like me, you took rice for granted. During one childhood visit to India, I remember my parents showing me rice plants growing on the roadside and I quickly dismissed it as no big deal. We ate rice all the time. I took for granted its importance in Indian cuisine and our heritage.
Whether it is a side dish with dal or the reason your idlis are fluffy, rice finds a way into many Indian foods.

History of rice

Rice was first domesticated in the Yangtze River basin in modern day China around 7,000 BCE.¹
Rice then traveled to the Korean peninsula followed by Japan then southeast Asia a few millennia later.
Domesticated rice arrived in India around 2,500 BCE and this particular variety of rice called japonica mixed with local wild rices to create the family of rice known as indica.¹
Scholars believe the Indus Valley civilization was the first South Asian culture to cultivate rice.²

What is rice

Rice is a type of grain cultivated for its edible seed.
It is the staple food for over half of the world’s population, mostly in Asia and Africa.
The rice plant is about 3 ft tall, although it can grow up to 16 ft tall if it is grown in water.
Rice does not contain gluten which makes rice flour a good substitute for gluten-free baking recipes. Rice is a good source of protein but not a complete protein because it lacks many essential amino acids needed for good health.¹
The rice seed or kernel has a few layers coming off the stalk.
The outer shell-like layer is called the husk. It is indigestible and needs to be removed before eating.
The next layer is the bran. It is edible and is typically brown or tan. Brown rice keeps this layer while white rice has it removed. The bran is about 8% of the weight of the rice kernel, and it contains many beneficial oils, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and protein.
The endosperm is part of the remaining kernel which is about 70% of the kernel’s weight. It contains starch, protein, vitamins, and minerals. It is white in color which gives white rice its color.
Finally there is the germ which is the embryo for future rice germination. The germ is usually removed during milling which gives white rice its characteristic indentation.³

Cultivation and milling of rice

Rice is an annual crop so it needs to be planted yearly. It can be grown during dry and wet seasons if there is sufficient water and the temperature is above 55 degrees Fahrenheit.¹
Rice does not need to be submerged in water to grow but it is beneficial. The water helps keep the temperature constant and prevents weed growth. Many rice paddies are intentionally flooded from rainfall or nearby rivers.
Rice takes about six months to harvest. The rice grass is allowed to grow about 3 ft tall when the seeds start growing near the top.
When the grain turns yellow and hard, it’s time for the rice to be harvested.⁶
The seeds are stripped from the stalk, these days often using a harvester machine. If it is stripped by hand, the stalk is beat against something and the falling seeds are collected on a sheet or tarp.
At this point, the rice is cleaned and dried.
Now processing starts. The rice grains are pushed between two rubber rollers which removes the husk. This is now brown rice.
For white rice, processing continues. A grinder removes the bran from the rice. Then the rice is polished to give it a shiny finish.⁵
Parboiled rice is steamed before milling. Steaming makes the grains harder and moves some of the vitamins and minerals into the white part of the rice so they remain after milling off the bran.¹
Worldwide production of rice was 787 million tons in 2021. China and India combine to produce 52% of the world’s rice.

Types of rice and their use cases

What types of rice exist and what are they used to cook? In this discussion, we’ll stick to rices commonly used in India because this is a podcast mainly for American born desis in North America along with their partners and friends interested in Indian cuisine.
Prior to 1970, there were over 100,000 varieties of rice in India alone. That number is now down to just 7,000 for a variety of factors we won’t discuss today. If you are interested, I will leave a link to the work of Indian ecologist Debal Deb who is trying to keep many of those lesser used rice varieties alive.⁸
Starting away from specific varieties, two ways to distinguish rice after processing are brown rice and white rice. As we discussed before, brown rice is the rice seed with the bran still on. White rice is the rice seed with the bran removed.
Brown rice is typically considered healthier because it has more vitamins, minerals, and fiber, but white rice is more commonly eaten in India. In South India, white rice is more than 75% of a person’s refined grain intake.⁷
Dry brown rice has a shorter shelf life of six months compared to two years for white rice.⁴ Given that rice cultivation is seasonal, typically only once or twice a year, you can see why many cultures use white rice rather than brown rice. One bad harvest could leave a community eating brown rice without food. But excess white rice could be saved to make up for future deficits. Although in the modern day, uncooked white rice in an airtight container can basically last forever, especially as long as bugs don’t get into the container.
Parboiled rice is rice that was partially boiled before milling. That means it was partially boiled with the husk on. There are a few benefits for parboiled rice. First, the process of boiling moves some of the nutrients from the bran to the endosperm so parboiled rice is nutritionally similar to brown rice while having many of the physical characteristics of white rice. Also, parboiled rice absorbs more water and is easier to cook than regular white rice. The rice takes less time to cook and is less sticky.⁹A specific type of parboiled rice common in Indian cuisine is idli rice. It is a short grain parboiled rice which is good at absorbing water for making soft, fluffy idlis.
Now let’s drill down into some specific varieties of white rice.
The most common rice at Indian restaurants in North America is basmati rice. Basmati rice is a variety of long and thin aromatic rice originally from the Indian subcontinent. Today, it is grown in north India and Pakistan. India accounts for 70% of basmati rice production in the world with Pakistan, Indonesia, Nepal, and Sri Lanka growing the rest. Basmati rice is popular for making biryani because the long thin grains separate nicely after cooking. The spices of the biryani can evenly coat the individual grains of rice.¹⁰
Jasmine rice is another long-grain variety of aromatic rice. Some people say the smell is similar to popcorn, although I personally think the smell is closer to mild fresh flowers. And before you ask, no jasmine rice isn’t directly related to jasmine plants. Jasmine rice is pretty common in Southeast Asian cuisines. It is primarily grown in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and southern Vietnam.¹¹ Historically, Indian cuisine doesn’t use jasmine rice, but I’m including it today because jasmine rice is probably the most common substitute in North America for basmati rice, especially when you can only buy rice at the American grocery store. Even many Indian grocery stores sell jasmine rice. The cooked rice will be a little shorter and stickier than basmati rice, but it is still nice in many everyday dishes such as curd rice and dal chawal.
Patna is another long grain rice similar to basmati, but it is less aromatic. It is grown in the Indian state of Bihar. The typical long grain rice sold in American grocery stores is Carolina rice which is a variety of Patna rice imported and cultivated in North America centuries ago.¹⁹
Sona masuri is a medium grain rice that is popular in South India. It is grown in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu. As a cross combination of the sona rice variety and the masuri rice variety, it is considered a premium grain of rice.¹² Sona masuri is a popular grain for rice dishes flavored with tempered spices in oil, such as tamarind rice and lemon rice.
Ponni rice is another medium grain combination rice used in South India. It is grown in Tamil Nadu.¹³ It is also popular for rice dishes flavored with tempered oil.
Gobindobhog is a short grain sticky rice known for its sweeter and buttery flavor. It is cultivated and eaten in West Bengal. The name comes from this rice’s common usage of being offered to the god Govinda, an avatar of Vishnu. In Bengali, bhog means offering.¹⁴One advantage of this rice is that it is relatively unaffected by monsoons and pests and therefore it is a more reliable crop. One common way to enjoy this rice is simply with dal on top of it – a classic version of dal chawal. Another popular way to eat this rice is in the snack dish chiwra, which is flattened gobindobhog, spices, curry leaves, and nuts.¹⁶
Bora saul is a sticky rice grown and eaten in Assam. This rice is closer to the sticky rices of southeast Asia than it is to many of the varieties from mainland India that we previously discussed. It can be served with yogurt, milk, sugar, or jaggery for a snack.¹⁷It is also popular in a dish called pitha which soaks and grinds the rice into a flat rice cake. There are several varieties of pitha that I won’t discuss now, but it looks like a flat donut, not a dosa or a pancake.¹⁸
If you haven’t noticed yet, there are several regional differences in the rice used across India. The rice traditionally used in those regional dishes is often what could be grown in that area.
Other than just varieties of rice, there are also different textures of rice available. Let’s discuss three: puffed rice, flattened rice, and rice flour.
Many cuisines in India use puffed rice. Here in North America, the most common word for puffed rice is the Gujarati word mamra, likely because mamra is also a very popular dish from Gujarat also enjoyed in other parts of India featuring puffed rice. The puffed rice is very similar to what you find in a box of Rice Krispies. Puffed rice is made by heating parboiled rice until it is hot enough to pop. Mamra is popular in the Gujarati snack food sev mamra which contains mamra, short crispy noodles called sev, peanuts, turmeric, chili powder, and curry leaves.²¹ Mamra is also commonly used as a base in bhel puri. Bhel puri is a snack food made with bhel, crunched up puri pieces, onions, cilantro, spicy green cilantro chutney, and sweet and sour tamarind chutney.²²
The next variation on rice is poha which is flattened parboiled rice. There are many local names for this type of rice, but we’ll stick to the most commonly known word poha. Poha is a versatile ingredient that can be crunch, soft, or chewy depending on the preparation. It can also be the main base of a dish, the way regular rice is used, or it can be a topping to add some crunch. There are snack dishes like Indori poha which is onions, sev, and fennel seeds served on spiced poha. But the most typically known dish with poha is a breakfast dish simply called poha. It is made by tempering mustard seeds, peanuts, chopped onions, and spices such as turmeric in hot oil, then adding poha to cook in the pan. It is usually finished with lemon juice and cilantro.²⁰
Finally we come to rice flour. This is rice that is ground into a powder. Rice flour is used to make instant dosa mixes such as rava dosa and sometimes ragi dosa. All of the powdered ingredients are mixed together and then water is added. After soaking for about a half hour, it can be cooked on a tava. Rice flour is also used to add a bit of crispiness to wheat based breads such as puri. This is especially popular for golgappa or pani puris.

Rice preparation

How do we prepare rice for Indian dishes?
Indians wash rice thoroughly before cooking it to prevent grains from sticking together.
By washing the rice, we are removing not only any dirt that may be left on the grains, but also extra starch. By removing the starch, the grains of rice will not stick together as much after cooking.
Put the rice in a large bowl, then pour water on it. Run your hand through the water and rice. You will notice the water gets cloudy as the starch shakes off the rice and goes into the water.
Pour the water out of the bowl and use a strainer or your hand to prevent the rice from falling out of the bowl.
Pour more water into the bowl, swish your hand through the rice, and pour the water out again. Repeat this process until the water runs clear.
It usually takes me five rinses of the rice before the water is clear, but your results may vary depending on the type and brand of rice you use.
You can watch my lemon rice video on YouTube for an example of washing rice. Here is the link.
After washing the rice, I highly suggest cooking it in a rice cooker. Don’t listen to western chefs who says you should cook rice in a covered saucepan. If aunties all over the world can make delicious rice with a rice cooker, you can too.
The key to cooking rice well is to use the correct amount of water. For long grain white rice, use a 1.5 (one and a half) to 1 ratio of water to rice. For example, if you cook 1 cup of long grain white rice, then add 1.5 (one and a half) cups of water. For brown rice, use 2 cups of water for every 1 cup of rice. And use a little bit more than 1 cup of water for every 1 cup of short grain white rice.
If you don’t have a measuring cup handy, you can use the aunty trick of measuring the amount of water using your finger. To use the trick, touch the tip of your index finger to the top of the rice. Then, add just enough water so that the water reaches the line of your index finger closest to the nail.
While this method is imprecise, it will generally work well for white rice in residential rice cookers. The amount of rice doesn’t change enough to drastically alter the required water content compared to the length of your finger.
Then simply cook following the instructions of your rice cooker.
When you get a new rice cooker, I recommend following the instructions that come with your rice cooker for the first batch of rice. If the rice didn’t turn out like you wanted, make a note on your phone or paper and then adjust the water to rice ratio accordingly. If the rice is a bit stiff, add more water. If the rice is soggy, use less water.
When the rice is done cooking, use a fork to separate the rice grains. Separating the rice grains allows the steam to escape so the rice will not stick together. A fork is better than a spoon because the individual rice grains can pass through the fork’s prongs to separate from each other.
Here are some common rice cooking troubleshooting tips. If the rice sticks to the bottom of the cooker’s bowl, you should try washing your rice more before cooking to remove even more starch. You should also try to fluff the rice with a fork as soon as it finishes cooking so the steam can escape quickly. Try to move the rice grains at the bottom of the cooker to the top.

Rice dishes

To sum it all up, here are some guidelines.
If you want to serve rice as a side dish with Indian entrees such as dal, saag paneer, or poriyal, use basmati rice. It’s the traditional and most common type of rice in India. It is also used in many North Indian rice recipes such as biryani and pulao.
In flavored rice dishes that have one feature flavor such as tamarind rice or lemon rice, use medium grain rices like sona masuri or ponni rice.
For recipes that require soaking rice ahead of time and grinding, use parboiled rice. Idli rice will help you make soft fluffy idlis from the additional water content the rice absorbs.
Finally, use puffed rice in recipes like bhel puri to give a light and crunch texture the hold the spicy and savory flavors of the dish.

I’d really appreciate it if you told your favorite Indian rice dish by emailing me at contact [at] cooklikeanaunty [dot] com.

Thank you for listening! You can find a transcript and the sources used to make this episode on cooklikeanaunty.com/rice. You can also find recipes for popular Indian dishes on the website or the Cook Like An Aunty YouTube channel. Links in the show notes.

Thanks for listening and see you next time!

Sources

Show Notes

Description
Sources used to make this episode: https://cooklikeanaunty.com/rice
Background music by Shobana Music: https://youtu.be/aqY9t2hzVes?si=59DZZhYsj–HtBpf
Title music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/simon-folwar/flo… License code: M1ADLQ9V0KCQ3ECP

History of rice

What is rice

Cultivation and milling of rice

Types of rice and their use cases

Rice preparation

Rice dishes

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