If you are looking to spice up your rice, this Easy Ghee Rice is the way to go. Ghee rice is delicious and SO simple to prepare. It’s perfect when you want to serve the food in a jiffy but would still prefer it to be a little fancy and not just dish out plain old rice. If you do not consume ghee, feel free to substitute it with butter instead. Equally delicious!
Although ghee rice can be made with many variations, yet the most basic recipe uses onions/shallots, cardamom, cinnamon and cloves; spices that elevate the flavor of the rice.
I personally would soak the rice in some water for 30 minutes before cooking. A step that I learnt from my mom. It is believed that soaking basmati rice prior to cooking would result in a more fluffy end product. If you are pressed for time, feel free to skip this step. You may not be able to notice the difference as it would still taste amazing! You can add some milk while cooking the rice to add some richness to it, but this is totally optional.
Ghee rice goes exceptional well with curries lentils…etc. I served these with butter chicken meatballs and a side of cucumber salad. Recipe coming up in the next post!!
- 1 cup of basmati rice
- 1¾ cup water OR 1¼ cup water + ½ cup milk (if using)
- 2 tbsp ghee
- 1 small onion, sliced
- 2 green chilli, sliced
- ¾ tsp grated garlic
- ½ tsp grated ginger
- 1 inch cinnamon
- 3 cloves
- 2 cardamoms
- 1 star anise
- 1 bay leaf
- Salt to taste
- A sprig of coriander or mint leaves, chopped
- Fried shallots (optional)
- Wash rice and soak for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, drain and set aside in the rice cooker.
- In a pot, melt ghee and fry onions and green chilies for 3-5 minutes.
- Add whole spices and sauté for another minute.
- Mix in ginger-garlic paste and sauté for another minute or so.
- Add water or water + milk. Season with salt
- Once it reaches to a soft boil, pour into the rice cooker.
- Cook as per normal.
- Once cooked, top with mint/coriander leaves and fried shallots.
Hi
When to drop in the ghee? Step is not listed in the instructions.
Hi Wati. Recipe said place ghee in a pot. So basically you sauté the ingredients in the ghee as a replacement of oil. Hope that helps.