Serve with rice is a common footnote to recipes. Rice is the most commonly eaten food on the planet and probably one of the most varied. Even though the basic cooking method is "boiling" It is remarkably easy (for the writer) to spoil rice and produce something well short of the stuff that Indian restaurants describe as "plain boiled rice". This is not so much a recipe, more a workable method for cooking, long grain, patna or basmati rice.
Allow 4 oz. (100 gm) of uncooked rice per person. Experience of your "audience" will provide some fine tuning on the amount which works for you. Multiply the weight of rice by one and three quarters to get the volume of water required. The table below should help:
| People | Rice (oz.) | Rice (gm) | Water (fl. oz) | Water (ml) |
| 1 | 4 | 100 | 7 | 175 |
| 2 | 8 | 200 | 14 | 350 |
| 3 | 12 | 300 | 21 | 525 |
| 4 | 16 | 400 | 28 | 700 |
| 5 | 20 | 500 | 35 | 875 |
| 6 | 24 | 600 | 42 | 1050 |
Despite all the implied precision of the above table, the ratio of water recommended by various manufacturers and writers ranges from 1.5 to 2.5. Some experimentation may be needed to find the correct figure for your favored brand.
Method
Wash the rice in running water to remove the surface starch. Put the rice and cooking water into a pan with a well fitting lid. You can get a better seal by putting a piece of foil over than pan and then fit the lid. Bring to the boil, simmer for 10 minutes, then turn the heat off and leave for a further 10 minutes. Don't remove the lid until ready to server.
Comment
Add salt as required.
Page Created: 1st December 2000