Rice

 “The staple food of the people of the world”

Rice is a cereal and the staple food which forms an important part of the diet of people all over the world. Rice can be long grained as well as short grained or parboiled which is also known as minute rice to name a few.The main difference between the long grained and short grained rice is long grained rice remains intact while short grained rice becomes sticky.

Making rice is very easy. It can either be cooked by boiling where rice is added to boiling water and when done excess water is strained off or steaming during which water is absorbed during cooking. This is plain rice. Plain rice can be mixed with curd to make curd rice.If rice is stir fried with garlic and red chilli flakes along with soya sauce its chilli garlic rice. If just onion and garlic along with corn and some seasoning then corn fried rice. Similarly Rissotto, Thai Rice etc can be made.To make such rice short grained rice is essential.Rice can also be used to make a sweet dish called kheer (rice pudding)

In order to make pulao long grained rice is needed. For making pulaos all we need is some spices along with onions and vegetables. First the onions along with the spices like cloves, cardamom and cinnamon is fried in the oil then the vegetables are added and it is kept in low flame till it cooks. Finally the rice is added to it and to it is added salt and a pinch of sugar. Pulaos can be made of peas, vegetables of ones choice along with dry fruits.

Biryani is a heart throb of all types of rice. Making it is a tedious job but something that is worth the effort. Firstly rice is soaked in water. In a pot clarified butter is heated and spices along with bay leaves are added to it then big chunks of vegetables like potato, cauliflower, peas etc are added to it after a few minutes the soaked rice is added and it is again stired. After two-three minutes warm water is added to it and it is let to cook in low flame covered. Extra special spices are added to it to make it hot and tasty to eat It needs to be checked seldom times until its properly cooked. A proper biryani has its grains properly cooked and it should not be sticky. It is served with raita. Biryani is basically a non vegetarian dish which is a meal by itself.

Khichadi term basically means when things get mixed up with one another. Similarly when rice and dal are both mixed and cooked in such a way that it is neither rice nor dal then its khichadi. In a khichidi the dal proportion is more than rice. When making it salt and turmeric powder is added to it. When a person is not well he is given this to eat as it is easy to digest. When vegetables are added to the khichidi it enhances the taste as well as the nutrition value also increases. Khichidi made of broken wheat is also very tasty to eat.

 Thali