Authentic Indian Jeera Rice (Cumin Rice) Recipe

Three ingredient authentic and easy fluffy Indian jeera (cumin) rice with the perfect texture. Dry and all grains separated, lets learn how to cook basmati rice. 

A couple of days ago, I used my recipe for homemade Indian curry paste to make rajma (red kidney beans Indian curry) over some rice. I shared the picture on Facebook and I was surprised to see so many people requesting for tips to make fluffy and puffed up cumin rice, considering that jeera rice is one of the most basic recipes of a traditional Indian kitchen.

Plus a very kind lady commented how her rice always came out mushy and over cooked or under cooked. I shared a simple recipe and tried to convince her that making perfectly cooked steamed rice is very easy to achieve. As I wrote down my tricks, I immediately made a mental note to write a blog post on rice and here I am...

Tips to make the perfect Indian jeera rice

• KIND OF RICE: Always try to use long grain basmati rice. My recommendations: this or this.
• WASHING: Wash your rice thoroughly before cooking as this helps in removing all the surface starch. This prevents the rice from clumping together. So its important to wash the rice 6 to 7 times until the water is really clear and you can see rice through it.
• SOAKING: Soaking the rice only for 10 minutes is enough for this recipe.
• CUMIN: Its important to add the right amount of cumin at the right time. For about 1 cup or rice (this makes 3 cups of cooked rice) use 2 teaspoons of jeera (cumin). When to add cumin? Just when the oil is lightly hot enough to allow the cumin to crackle completely. This will help cumin release all its flavors.
• RICE TO WATER RATIO: Stick to the ratio. The golden rule is to use doubly quantity of water than to rice. So 1:2 is the perfect ratio. For everyone 1 cup of rice, add 2 cups of water.

How to make cumin rice?

• Start by thoroughly washing the until you are able to see the long white grains clearly through the water. 

• let the rice soak in water for 10 minutes.
• to a wok (kadhai) add oil and let that heat for a few seconds on medium flame.
• now add cumin seeds

• let the seeds crackle a bit - just a few seconds until it sizzles and releases its flavor.

• now add the basmati rice (with the water) and cover with a lid and let cook for 10 minutes on medium flame.

• after 10 minutes, turn off the flame and let the rice stay covered for 5 minutes on absolute do-not-touch mode.
• after 5 minutes, take the lid off, mix well so that all the cumin that is at the corners get mixed up with the rice.

There you go. Your perfectly cooked vegan & vegetarian long grain Indian rice is ready to be served. Be it at a restaurant or in my every day Indian kitchen, we always ALWAYS love eating rice with curries. 

What to serve with cumin rice?

• Restaurant Style Quick and easy shahi paneer
• North Indian style malai kofta
• Rajma (red Indian kidney beans curry)
• Coconut chana masala
• or just as it is with some yogurt.

Click here for all Indian recipes on the blog.

Some more rice recipes to try:

• Asian style ginger garlic vegetable fried rice
• Indian tadka rice
• One pot garlic butter mushroom rice
• Lemon and coconut rice

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