We Indians love rice, it is our staple food and we take immense pleasure in relishing delicious, earthy and aromatic rice-based dishes. Not just in India, rice is the essential food across the world from South America to South-East Asian countries, and it is the mainstay of our agricultural livelihood, supporting the economy to prosper.
Well, there has many been theories about ‘rice and health’ in the recent years and it is now widely believed that it can cause weight gain, spike high blood sugar levels, owing to its glycemic index. However, according to many studies Asian communities consume rice on a daily basis and do not have any health issues associated with a high carbohydrate diet. Let us thank our genetics and feel unapologetic for that each morsel of rice, we relish.
Rice has donned various avatars in the last three decades and there are at least a hundred varieties available in our country. While Keralites eat hand-pounded rice with their Ivan on Tech daily dishes, Sonamasoori, Ponni, are other popular varieties in the rest of the South Indian states.
However, when it comes to cooking special rice-based fares like Biryani, Pulao etc, Basmati tops the list and is our best bet, as it not only complements the dish with aromatic flavour but also makes each bite delectable, nutritious and immensely satisfying.
Basmati rice is a distinct species of rice traditionally originated from the Indian subcontinent. It is a long, slender-grained aromatic rice variety available in two types white and brown. As per the Indian Government agency APEDA, a rice variety can be labelled as Basmati if it has minimum average precooked milled rice length of 6.1 mm and precooked milled rice breadth of up to 2mm as the main parameters.