Basmati rice is easy to cook if you follow these simple directions: Buy good-quality rice with unbroken grains. The rice should have a pronounced basmati odor. Wash, soak, and drain the rice. Cook it with a light hand without heavy-handed stirring, as the grains can break easily. This could be an everyday rice when served with a simple dal, vegetable, and relish, or a party rice if served with a fish or meat curry.

　　

Ingredients

serves 6

　　2 cups basmati rice

　　

Step 1

Put the rice in a bowl. Cover with cold water, stirring the rice gently. Pour out the dirty water. Do this 4–5 times. Now cover well with fresh water and leave to soak for 30 minutes (longer will not hurt). Drain and leave in a sieve set over a bowl to drain some more.

　　

Step 2

Put the drained rice in a heavy pan that has a tight-fitting lid. Add 2 2/3 cups water and bring to a boil. Cover tightly, turn heat to very, very low, and simmer gently for 25 minutes.

　　

Step 3

When ready to serve, remove rice with a slotted spoon, breaking up the lumps gently with the back of the spoon.

　　Excerpted from At Home with Madhur Jaffrey: Simple, Delectable Dishes from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka by Madhur Jaffrey. Copyright © 2010 by Random House. Excerpted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.Buy the full book from Amazon.