Normally just washing basmati rice has been enough to make it cook well, but the generic brand I've been buying for years seems to have changed their supplier or something and now what should be the same exact rice doesn't cook right anymore and turns out disgusting. How do I compensate for this? Do I just wash it even more thoroughly? Do I wash it, let it soak in clean water for a while, and then wash it again?

I'm kind of at a loss for how to fix it because I've never encountered such starchy, shitty quality basmati rice before.

  • nightjarsuperstar [none/use name]
    ·
    2 months ago

    If washing isn't reducing the stickiness, there might be something up with the rice grains themselves (too much of the outer layer removed during processing, long-term storage a dry environment causing cracks, etc.) Lowering the water to rice ratio a bit or steaming really gently after parboiling (like the technique used in this recipe for Iranian chelow) could be enough compensate for the issue, but if all else fails you can always make khichdi or some other kind of porridge.

    • KobaCumTribute [she/her]
      ·
      2 months ago

      (like the technique used in this recipe for Iranian chelow)

      Thanks, I will have to try making that sometime. If nothing else for right now the stuff about how to prepare the rice ahead of time might help.