How to cook rice in a pot over a stove, a basic cooking skill everyone should know.

Cook rice on a stove is easy if you know,

• How much rice to water ratio to add.
• and a little practice.

So here’s your guide on how to cook perfect fluffy rice with step-by-step pictures.

This is how I cook rice every day for my family, I have not used a rice cooker for a very long time, it’s a skill that I like to maintain despite having various cooking rice options.

What to serve with rice.

• Here are a few vegetarian curries and stir fries that go well with rice.
  • Dhal curry,
  • potato curry,
  • pineapple curry(mild),
  • pumpkin curry,
  • ash plantain curry(mild), ash plantain curry(spicy),
  • egg plant moju, brinjal pahi are some of the curries you can serve with rice.

• Meat dishes you can serve with rice.
  • My grandmother’s beef curry.
  • Sri Lankan devilled chicken,.
  • devilled beef, devilled prawns.
  • prawn curry, cuttlefish curry.
  • spicy chilli fish curry, canned fish curry.
  • sausage curry.
  • yogurt pepper chicken curry are some of the protein dishes you can add to the meal.

• Stir fries, healthy sambols you can serve with rice.
  • Pol sambol,
  • kangkung and beef stir fry,
  • banana flower vegan stir fry,
  • parsley sambol,
  • gotukola sambol.

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Tips to cook rice over a stovetop.

• Use this method to cook short, medium, and long-grain rice.

• Wash the rice.
  • as a rule, please wash the rice you are about to cook, some rice grains are packed in cloth sacks, some are sealed well but these rice bags do tend to be on the shelf of the supermarket for months. It is always good hygiene to wash the rice.

• Make sure the rice to water ratio is measured correctly. if you don’t have a measuring cup, use a tea cup but the ratio for rice to water when cooking rice should always be,1:2.

• Use the correct pot to cook your rice.
  • whether you cook for a single person or a crowd, remember that the rice quantity increases once cooked so use a large, deep pan to cook your rice.
  • Unless you are cooking a single-serve, avoid cooking rice in deep saucepans.

• If you are cooking rice for the first time.
  • There will come a time, where you won’t need to hover over the pan and know exactly when to remove your rice from the stove, until then hover over the pan to avoid burnt rice.

• Avoid cooking rice over a constant high flame, instead bring the rice to a boil and then reduce and maintain medium heat and once the water evaporates, reduce heat to low.

• Use a fork to stir or fluff the rice.
  • The first time is when there’s just enough water to run your fork through.
  • The second time is to fluff the rice, once the rice is slightly cool.

• Many advice to keep the cover on while the rice cooks, I cook rice everyday over a stove top and only cover and cook when I need to boil the rice quicker using the trapped steam.
• The only time I really use a lid is at the last stage, I use the residue heat to bring the rice to the correct consistency.

• Remember, as the rice cools down, the cooked grains dry up, this is why you end up with a lot of lumps of rice when kept out. When serving make sure to run the fork to break down the rice again.

Frequently asked questions about rice.

• How long does it take to cook rice?
  • It takes about 15-20 minutes to cook the rice depending on how much heat you use.

• how much rice per person should I cook?
  1. This will depend on what you are serving the rice with(meat and curry dishes, are there any other carbs in the menu)
  2. how much rice is eaten by the person.
     • 1 person– 1/3 cup of uncooked rice will give you a little more than 1 cup of cooked rice which is also adequate if the person is only serving once.
     • To be on the safe side you can also cook 1/2 a cup of rice for a single person incase they need an extra serve.
     • 2 people– 1 cup of uncooked rice will yield 3 cups of cooked rice, this should be adequate depending on how much a person consumes. if you are unsure cook 1 and 1/2 a cup of rice.
     • 3-4 people– 2 cup of uncooked rice will yield 6 cups of rice. This should be enough but also depends on the above mentioned factors.
     • 5 people– 3 cups of uncooked rice will give you 9 cups of rice which should be more than enough. but if you unsure how much rice the individuals will consume then add 1/2 a cup more.

It’s always better to cook extra rice than running out in the middle of serving time. any leftover rice can be used the following day.

• How long does rice last in the fridge?
  • I will only keep cooked rice for 3 days in the refrigerator. I’ve noticed by the 4th day they tend to become very hard and plastic like in texture. no amount of heating will change the hard texture.

• What is the Ratio of Water to Rice?
  • I follow the 1:2 ratio to cook my rice. this would mean for every 1 cup of uncooked rice add 2 cups of water.

How do I reheat rice?

This is what I do to reheat rice,

if the rice has been in the fridge for a day, I would simply add a teaspoon of water and microwave for 2-3 minutes until hot.

If the rice has been in the fridge for 3 days and they look hard, my mother-in-law taught me to rinse the rice in water, completely drain the water and then microwave for 2-3 minutes or cook over low-medium heat for 5-7 minutes or until hot.

How do I fix mushy rice?
Unfortunately, there is no way to fix mushy rice, instead, use the mushy rice to make kiribath(milk rice) or congee or even cooked rice balls.

How do I fix burnt rice?

There is no way to fix burnt rice.

Try to avoid burning the rice by making sure to check on the rice as it cooks and keeping the flame as low as possible in the last stage.
If your rice is just burnt at the bottom, immediately remove it from the stovetop, let it cool and try to remove the top layer of the cooked rice without scraping the bottom.

Storing cooked rice– Store rice only when it is cold, use a glass or plastic container and secure with a lid.
Reheating– reheat over stove or microwave, add a teaspoon of water while heating.

Stop food waste- You can always use any leftover rice the following day or use it to make various fried rice recipes.

Cooked rice recipes
Yellow rice

coconut rice.

Indian ghee rice

easy chicken fried rice

Garlic and egg fried rice

One-pot rice recipes

Saudi Chicken kabsa

Chicken Mandi rice

Egg biryani

Hyderabadi chicken biryani

RECIPE DIFFICULTY- LITTLE CARE NEEDED

How to cook rice

Please make sure to read the recipe instructions carefully to avoid mistakes.

Ingredients

The ingredients mentioned below use standard measuring cups and spoons.

1 cup of rice
2 cups of water
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2″ strips of Pandan leaf(adds a subtle fragrance to rice, optional ingredient)

Method

How to wash rice

Add rice to the pan you are cooking it in, make sure the pan has a wide mouth.

Place the pan under running water, fill water until the rice is submerged, swirl the water with your fingers, and rub the rice between your fingers gently while they are submerged.
Then drain the water completely, repeat another 3 times.

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How to cook the rice.

Measure and add the correct amount of water(tips and rice quantity to cook notes written above).

The formula to remember is 1:2:3 which means 1 cup of rice will need two cups of water and will yield 3 cups of cooked rice.
In this demonstration, I’m adding two cups of water.
Season with salt, 1/2 a teaspoon to start with, taste and add a pinch more.

Add 2 strips of pandan leaf to the rice, you can skip this part if you don’t have them.

Pandan leaves add a really pleasing fragrance to the cooked rice.

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Place the pan with the washed rice over a stovetop and cook over medium-high heat.
Gently bring the rice to a boil and cook for 5 minutes.
You will notice a layer of large bubbles appearing on the surface.
Once the 5 minutes are over bring down the heat to medium and cook until the rice is visible.
At this stage, you will notice the small holes appearing on the surface of the rice.
This is your visual sign to bring down the heat to low.

At the above stage, the rice is almost cooked but is still hard in the middle which will give you a grainy texture when you bite into it.

Cover the pan with a lid and make sure you maintain really low heat.

Cook for 3 minutes, letting the trapped heat completely evaporate any moisture left in the bottom.
Once your 3 minutes are done, remove rice from the stove and leave the rice pan as it is for another 5 minutes.

If you are bad at keeping minutes, then listen until you hear a constant ticking noise. this is the first sign that your rice is sticking to the pan, remove it immediately from the stove.
This is a small tip I came up with for my eldest daughter when I taught her to cook rice on the stove.

Remove the lid and let the rice cool for 10 minutes with the lid off.

Gently fluff the rice with a fork, make sure to bring the rice from the bottom to the top.

Avoid using a spoon as you want the delicate grains not to break.

Transfer to a bowl and serve with the above-mentioned curry options.

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