Video Recipe Blog

Turn plain white rice into an exotic, healthful dish!

Here’s a very simple way to bring color and spicy flair to your plain white rice. What’s more, it’s gluten free, organic and infused with healthful spices. 

We begin by choosing the “queen of fragrance”—basmati! This rice is extremely fragrant and will spread its appetizing aroma throughout your kitchen. To the rice, we will add Green Cardamom, Cloves, Turmeric and Ceylon Cinnamon, or what is commonly called “true cinnamon”. 

All the spices used have properties associated with health benefits. Turmeric is an anti-inflammatory. Cinnamon, while also having anti-inflammatory properties, is being used in research to lower blood sugar. Cloves have anti-bacterial properties and are high in manganese, vitamin C and omega-3 fatty acids. Cardamom is considered an excellent digestive and, in Ayurvedic medicine, an aphrodisiac. Finally, we will be using butter. While some may frown upon this, please consider that the lipids in butter actually help the bioavailabilty of the nutrients in spices. 

This dish may be made using a rice cooker or, if one is not available, a medium-sized, heavy-bottomed pot that has a tight-fitting lid. 

Remember to select basmati rice that is not enriched, as the medium used to spray the vitamins on washed rice in the enrichment process may contain gluten. 

Aromatic Basmati Rice 

We begin by selecting the following organic ingredients: 

• 2 cups white organic basmati rice 
• 5 organic green cardamom pods 
• 8 organic cloves 
• 3-inch piece organic Ceylon cinnamon 
• ½ teaspoon organic turmeric 
• 2 Tablespoons organic butter (optional)
• 1 pinch sea salt (optional) 

1. Place the rice in the rice cooker or the pot to be used for cooking. Rinse two to three times in cold water by gently swirling the rice with your fingers. This will help rinse off excess starch. (Do not use a sieve or strainer, as these tend to damage the long grains of basmati.) 
2. After rinsing, add 2 ½ cups cold water. Allow to sit for 15 minutes. After the water is added, prepare the cardamom pods by breaking the hull using the flat blade of a broad knife and add to the rice, followed by the cloves, cinnamon and turmeric. Finally, melt the butter in the microwave and pour it into the rice. If using a rice cooker, cover with lid and flip the switch to the "on” position. If a pot is used, once all the ingredients are added, turn the heat to high and bring to a boil. 

Once the water starts to boil, cover tightly with a lid, reduce heat to low and cook for 20 minutes. Please do not lift the lid to peek! Once the rice cooker switch goes off, pull the plug from the outlet and let sit for 10 minutes. If a pot is used, turn off the heat after 20 minutes, remove from the heat source, leave the lid on and let it rest for 10 minutes. 

You will notice that once the rice is cooked, the whole spices have come to rest on the surface of the rice. These can be easily removed using a fork. Finally, gently fluff the rice with a fork and delight in the experience of a healthful and exotic dish! 

Compliments of Dinesh, The Spicy Gourmet®.