Jeera rice recipe | How to make Jeera rice
Jeera rice is an aromatic rice dish cooked with whole garam masalas and tempering of jeera (cumin seeds) gives the earthy taste. It is a simple but delicious rice recipe made from long grain basmati rice and flavoured with cumin and other spices. Jeera rice is the popular rice recipe that is served with either dal fry tadka or any veg or non-veg curries.
Rice is one of the essential meal items in almost all the regions of India. It can simply vary from regular steamed rice to veg pulao to spicy biryani which can be either served as it is or with any gravy or simple daal tadka. You can even add veggies to jeera rice, completely depends on your taste.
You can keep jeera rice simple without adding any veggies. But, you can add just sliced onions and saute them until it turns light golden brown in colour. This will also add some colour to jeera rice. Otherwise, you can add some vegetables like french beans, grated carrot, cauliflower, etc. I would suggest to keep it simple without adding any veggies as it will give the more taste of cumin tempering.
Jeera Rice recipe 2 ways
There are many variations in making jeera rice. First, you can cook the basmati rice separately and then add the tempering of jeera and whole garam masalas. Secondly, this is a one-pot method, where you can first fry the cumin and other whole spices and then add the raw basmati rice, mix all the ingredients together and cook. This way, the aroma and flavour of the spices get mixed with rice nicely.
Personally, I prefer the first method. When you have guests coming over, you can keep the cooked rice ready and while serving you can just make the fresh cumin and spices tempering and add the cooked rice. Hot and flavourful jeera rice is ready to be served.
Jeera Rice Recipe Card
Jeera Rice recipe
Materials
For Pressure cooking Rice
- 2 cups Basmati rice
- 2.5 cups Water
- 1 tsp Cooking oil
- Fat pinch of salt
For tempering cooked rice
- 2 tbsp Unsalted butter
- 1 tbsp Jeera/ Cumin seeds
- 2 Bay leafs tej pata
- 1-inch Cinnamon stick dalchini
- 2 Green Cardamom pods Elaichi
- 1 Green Chilli Vertically slit
- 2 tbsp Fresh Coriander leaves finely chopped
Instructions
For cooking rice:
- Take 2 cups of long grain basmati rice in a large bowl and rinse it under the running water.
- Soak the rinsed rice for about 4 to 5mins in hot or warm water.
- Now, drain the water and add the rice in a pressure cooker along with 2.5 cups of water.
- Then, add a tsp of salt or as per your taste.
- Also, add a tsp of cooking oil in the pressure cooker and cook the rice on medium-low flame for 1 whistle.
For making Jeera rice:
- In a large thick bottom pan or kadhai, heat 2 tbsp of butter until it melts.
- Add bay leaf, crushed cardamom pods, slit green chillies, and cinnamon stick, saute for few seconds.
- Now add tbsp of jeera and saute until it splutters and changes its colour to golden brown.
- Now, add in the cooked basmati rice and give it a nice mix.
- Cover and cook for about 2 to 3 mins. Finally, add chopped coriander leaves.
- Jeera rice is ready to be served hot with gravy of your choice.
Step by step Instructions:
For cooking rice:
- Take 2 cups of long grain basmati rice in a large bowl and rinse it under the running water.
- Soak the rinsed rice for about 4 to 5mins in hot or warm water.
- Now, drain the water and add the rice in a pressure cooker along with 2.5 cups of water.
- Then, add a tsp of salt or as per your taste.
- Also, add a tsp of cooking oil in the pressure cooker and cook the rice on medium-low flame for 1 whistle.
For making Jeera rice:
- In a large thick bottom pan or kadhai, heat 2 tbsp of butter until it melts.
- Add bay leaf, crushed cardamom pods, slit green chillies, and cinnamon stick, saute for few seconds.
- Now add tbsp of jeera and saute until it splutters and changes its colour to golden brown.
- Now, add in the cooked basmati rice and give it a nice mix.
- Cover and cook for about 2 to 3 mins. Finally, add chopped coriander leaves.
- Jeera rice is ready to be served hot with gravy of your choice.
Important tips for making jeera rice:
- Fewer spices are used in this recipe, so use good quality basmati rice to get the nice texture and aroma.
- For variation, add sliced onions or other veggies of your choice.
- Also, add little cooking oil or fresh homemade ghee while pressure cooking rice as it gives a nice nutty fragrance.
- To add some colour to jeera rice, use either saffron strands or turmeric powder, and no artificial colours.
Finally, I would like to highlight a few of my Main Course recipes along with this post. It includes Litti Chokha, Tomato pulao, Aloo Matar kachori, etc.
