Jeera Rice
Jeera Rice – light fluffy cumin rice made with long grain basmati rice, salt, cumin seeds and ghee in an Instant Pot just like restaurants style!
A classic simple rice dish that is truly a heart of Indian food!! Jeera rice, also knows as cumin rice is long grain basmati rice. It is flavored with simply cumins seeds and salt, coated with ghee and garnished with fresh cilantro. This side dish is a must have with any type of Indian curries!! Most of the Indian restaurants serves this along dal or curry. For example, Dal Tadka, Rajma, CHANA MASALA, BUTTER PANEER MASALA, DAL MAKHANI and you name it!! I am one of those who actually could care less for actual curry when that hot aromatic perfectly cooked jeera rice is served with Indian meal!!
There are many different ways to make this side dish. Some people like to boil the rice and then add cumin tadka to it. Some people do tadka and then cook the rice in a stove top pot. My preferred way is to make it in an Instant Pot or Indian style pressure cooker!! It is so simple to make and always comes out light and fluffy. Make a batch on weekend and enjoy through out the week. It pairs so well with Dal Fry, Rajma, Chana Masala, Paneer Butter Masala etc. And best part of it is the way I like to use leftovers, Indian Style Fried Rice!! I will be sharing my way of making Indian Style Fried Rice soon!! Check out some key pointer I mentioned in the notes section below to get perfectly cooked rice all the time!!
If you end up making this bullet proof Jeera Rice recipe and like it, tag me on Instagram @myvegetarianroots! I would love to see your recreation of this simple dish!
Happy & Healthy Eating!!
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Jeera Rice
Equipment
- Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 2 cup Long Grain Basmati Rice
- 1½ tbsp Oil for less fat, use 1 tbsp
- 1½ tbsp Ghee for less fat, use 1 tbsp
- 1 tbsp Cumin Seeds
- 1 Cinnamon Stick
- 3 Cloves
- 3 Whole Peppercorn
- 2 Small Bay Leaf
- 1½ tsp Salt
- 2 tsp Lemon Juice
- 2½ cup Warm Water
- 2 tbsp Chopped Cilantro
Instructions
- Wash and soak long grain basmati rice in warm water for 15-20 minutes or so.
- Once rice is soaked, Put Instant Pot on saute mode. Or start heating up Indian style pressure cooker (if using) on medium heat.
- Add oil, ghee and whole spices in the pot.
- Once the whole spices start to fragrant, add cumin seeds and let it get golden brown.
- Drain soaked rice completely and add it to the pot. Mix well and saute for couple of minutes while stirring couple of times.
- Add 2½ cup of warm water, salt and lemon juice to the pot.
- Mix well, bring it to simmer and close the lid of Instant Pot. Make sure the valve is secure and closed. If using Indian style pressure cooker, close the lid with whistle on.
- Put IP on either rice setting, or manual on 6 minutes low pressure. If using Indian style pressure cooker, make 2 whistles.
- Once the IP timer is done with cooking time, let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes. Release rest of the pressure manually. If using Indian style pressure cooker, take it off the stove after two whistles and let the pressure release naturally all the way.
- Once the valve is released, open the lid carefully, gently fluff it with a fork and garnish with some fresh cilantro. Serve it with dal or any curry!
Notes
- adding lemon juice to rice helps with bright white color and fluffy grains
- adding dollop of ghee or oil to rice helps with not too sticky rice
- cooking them in a wide shallow pot helps with even heat, vs using narrow deep pot where the bottom of the rice gets cooked too much from the heat up above
- having water level just above the rice level, assuming you are using wide shallow pot for cooking, is right amount of water to cook the rice
- Older the rice, less sticky it is upon cooking