I need some major help… I just bought a small packet of no name basmati rice and tried to make plain chawal (not the boiled kind where you drain the water ) but rather the one where you cook the rice in water on sort of dum…
They cooked through but felt starchy … and sort of mushy… I have never had this prob but then I have never bought no name brand basmati… I really don’t have an option of buying brand name ones right now… so how can I have rice that is separate and not gonna turn into kheer…
Do I need to reduce the amount of water or what… pls pls share your tips…
and also I tried making daal today but the tomatoes did not gallofy … I’m in a completely new place… new produce…and a very very minimum kitchen so pls help me out… thanks in advance…
one thing i always do is that I was the rice 3 times with water and then soak them in water for at least 1/2 an hour. do that even when you're not boiling them. rice may have become mushy mushy may be because you put them on dam for too long (15-20 mins are maximum) or there was too much water. Before you put on dam always turn the flame high when bubbles starts appearing and you can also see rices (meaning they are no longer dipped in yakhni/water) then put it on dum. for dum always keep high flame for 3-4 mins when enough steam is created then u can lower the flame.
you shd bhoono tomatoes with masala enough before adding the daal (i am assuming u made bhuni daal) make sure they have become soft and are no longer raw then add daal.
diamond... I did wash the chawal and I always always keep them soaked... and on the tomatoes I bhoonofied them a lot ...but not all of them turned to mush.... i guess produce is different from country to country... any other ideas...
Well if they are too starchy when you cook them without straining/draining water, then I guess maybe you should drain excess water and leave with on dum.nt of
Reducing the amount of water will also help, also add little oil when cooking, it will help keep the rice seperate.
For daal, did you make, khari daal, soup type daal? I would say finely chop the tomatoes and maybe let them cook longer, maybe on low heat. Ripe tomatoes take shorter time to cook, unripe tomatoes take a bit longer time. While cooking, you might want to try breaking them with the spoon.
Automne , the dishes are done so you wont be able to do much .. however for future reference , you can do the following:
1- when boiling rice , keep a low medium flame and everytime the starch that comes on the top , remove it with your spoon. Do this a few times and it will make alot of difference
2- Add a bit of salt and zeera to the boiling rice .. this tends to reduce starchiness in rice
3- for starchy rice , quantity of water should be lesser .. so one and a half cup water for every one cup rice. When I buy a new brand of rice, I just keep boiled some water in the kettle and initially add one cup rice=one cup water and start boiling the rice , when i see that the water has gotten absorbed and the rice is not fully cooked , i add half cup of boiled water from the kettle ... this process just helps to understand the new brand of rice.
4- Never cover the pot while boiling the rice , when you are using a new brand. some types of rice become halwa abit too quick .. so you have to be careful. and always always always add rice to piping hot boiling water otherwise they will leave their starch and turn into halwa.
For the daal ... next time try to chop the tomatoes really really fine ...Once i was away from home and didnt have the blender with me , so I just put the chopped tomatoes in the shopping bag and crushed them slightly with the rolling pin or anything heavy. and that sorted the issue.
But if a situation like your daal happens , you have no choice but to further cook it on low heat and keeping the pot covered , so that the tomatoes will get cooked .
What everyone said plus for dum purposes use a dry kitchen towel/paper towel and check in between, if it has absorbed lots of moisture just change it quickly. This will help get rid of extra moisture from the rice.
Also if you have a wide bartan just transfer your rice to it in the end, lightly stroking it with a spoon to let air pass through. If you don't have a bigger one just let it sit in the pot it was cooked in, uncovered and lightly tossed with a spoon for a few mins. This will also help extra moisture to evaporate.