Jeera rice with toasted cumin

Plan a week with South Asian dishes

Let's cook

1. Put the rice in a bowl, cover with cold water and swirl it with your hand. Pour the cloudy water away. Repeat 3 or 4 times until the water is almost clear. Then cover with fresh cold water and leave to soak for 10 minutes. Soaking helps the grains cook long and separate.
2. Drain the rice well in a sieve. Boil a kettle: you need 550ml of hot water.
3. Heat the oil in a medium pan with a tight lid on a medium heat. Add the cumin seeds, bay leaf and cardamom. Let them sizzle for 30 to 45 seconds, until the cumin turns a shade darker and smells toasty. Do not let it go black, or it turns bitter.
4. Tip in the drained rice and stir gently for 1 minute so every grain is coated in the spiced oil.
5. Pour in the 550ml hot water and add the salt. Stir once, bring to the boil, then turn the heat down as low as it goes. Cover with the lid and cook for 12 minutes. Do not lift the lid.
6. Turn off the heat and leave the pan covered for 5 minutes more. The rice finishes cooking in its own steam.
7. Lift the lid and fluff the rice gently with a fork. Take out the bay leaf and cardamom pods if you like. Scatter with coriander and serve.

Tips

• Fluff with a fork, not a spoon: a spoon squashes the grains.
• If you have leftovers, spread the rice on a tray to cool quickly, then keep it covered in the fridge for no more than 1 day. Reheat until steaming hot all the way through.
• A pan with a heavy base stops the rice catching at the bottom.

Swaps

• Richer: fry the cumin in 1 tablespoon of ghee instead of oil (this adds milk).
• Brown basmati: use 650ml water and cook for 25 minutes.

More in the South Asian meal plan

Our own recipe. The photograph is AI-generated.