always use twice as much liquid as rice (1/2 cup dry rice, 1 cup water) always use a pan with a tight fitting lid boil the water, pour in rice, stir, let settle turn the flame down low, so that liquid is simmering gently, cover tightly with lid set timer for 12 minutes (time may need adjusting slightly one minute more or less, start with 12, if too wet, cook one minute longer, if too dry, one minute less) viola!! fluffy rice

basmati needs to be washed until the water runs clear. The way I do is just slightly cover the rice with water after it has been rinsed and leave to boil/steam, if the water goes down too much and the rice is not cooked add a little mroe water

Clean your rice. Put rice in a bowl, cover the rice with water, let sit for a few minutes. Use both of your hands to gently clean the rice using a gentle gliding friction with the rice between your hands. Once you have cleaned once, spill the water and add once again. Repeat cleaning the rice. Change the water about 4 times or until the water runs clear.

The best way to cook any rice is with a rice cooker. It comes out perfect each time. But the second best way to make rice is to use the oven and not to cook it on the stovetop. The water should be boiling before you add it to the rice. Seal your pan really tight, even using foil under the lid. It takes 25-39 minutes for most rice, an hour for whole grain brown rices. Wash your rice in 2-3 changes of water. For jasmine or basmati rice, use 1 3/4 times water for 1 amount of rice, not double. If you use rice cooker, use 2-4 tablespoons less. I only use 1 1/2 to 1 in the rice cooker. Brown rice takes 2 1/4 to 1, arborio takes 4 to 1. White rice (not parboiled) takes 1 1/2 to 1. Parboiled takes 2 to 1.

Lippycow - I do it in the microwave. Wash the rice til the water runs clear. for 8 oz rice, use 1 pint of boiling water. In a large pyrex bowl with a lid, put the rice in, add a tbsp of oil and some salt, then add the boiling water. Put it in the microwave on full power for 3 mins. Then microwave on low power for 20 mins. When you take it out of the microwave, all the water is absorbed. Run a fork through it to fluff it up and voila!

I use the microwave, but I don't ever rinse rice (I thought that took away from the nutrients). I use 1 cup of rice to 2 cups of water (or chicken broth, depending what you are making). Salt, pepper, 1 tablespoon of butter. Cover tight. Cook high in the micro for 5 mins; then 15 mins on 50% power. Comes out great every time.

I cook basmati all the time. It is the only rice I really eat much of anymore. Boil 1 3/4 c. water with a little salt in it. Once boiling, pour in 1 c. basmati, stir well, place a tight-fitting lid on the pot and reduce heat to simmer/low. Set timer for 20 minutes and DO NOT PEEK. Don't open the lid until the timer goes off. Turn off the timer, turn off the stove, and let the pot sit for about five or ten minutes. Open the pot and fluff the rice. Mine is perfect everytime. Frequently I don't even want anything on it except maybe a little butter. PS -- I have NEVER washed basmati before cooking it.

rice cooker, rice cooker, rice cooker. Seriously. If it comes out a bit sticky, then next time, cut the water just a bit.

I always use a rice cooker (I even have a brand-new one still in the box for when my old one dies). A main point that I haven't seen addressed so far is DO NOT STIR THE RICE. Stirring is what makes it stick together. (Also, don't use "Minute" rice--this does not apply to you.) My steps: 1. Rinse measured amount of rice under the cold water tap in a large strainer. 2. Pour a couple tbsp olive oil in the empty rice cooker. 3. Add measured amount of cold water. (I often replace some of the water with chicken broth, and then omit salt.) 4. Add the rinsed, measured rice. 5. Turn on rice cooker. It will <ding> when all the water has evaporated and the temperature at the sensor begins to rise. It automatically switches the heating element to a low temp, to keep the rice warm and prevent burning. (A little will stick to the bottom, but it's quite tasty.) If you're out shopping, you can take your time returning home. Turn the cooker off & remove lid to let it dry out a bit. 6. DO NOT STIR RICE WHILE COOKING!! Don't make me come over there!! <hehe, just kidding> <unless dinner is ready> :-) After a few trials you'll learn how much water to add for a given amount of rice. The goal is that the water will boil off and the element will be switched to the lower setting when the rice has just finished cooking. If the rice is underdone, add a little more water next time. ==================== Addendum: You don't need an expensive, programmable, whiz-bang rice cooker that's fully digitized and Y2k compliant. Asians have been using these things ever since electricity was invented. ====================

I use 3 times the amount of liquid to rice. For example, I use 1.5 cups of liquid for 1/2 cup of rice. Stir together and bring to a boil. Lower to medium-low and cover for about 15 minutes. Works great every time. I generally use broth instead of water for tastier rice.

First, you need to wash off the excess starch from the rice. This will prevent it from making a sticky mess. Put the rice in a deep bowl, and in your sink, run cold tap water over it. Once the bowl is full of water, use your fingers to swish the rice around. The water will start getting murky. Now gently pour this water out. Repeat this process till the water is mostly clear. This will take at least 4-5 washes. Now fill it up one last time. Don't wash the rice again. Just leave it in there, covered with water, for about 30 minutes or so. After the soaking, you will notice that the rice grains have turned a nice milky white.Then drain out all the water. Put the rice in a heavy-gauge flat bottom pan. Add water. The thumb rule is twice the amount of water as rice but if you have soaked it for half an hour 1 and half times the quantity of rice is enough.Add salt and a tbsp of oil to the water and stir well. Put the pan on medium high heat. Wait till the water boils and starts bubbling. Now turn the heat down as low as you can, cover with the tight lid, and let it just sit there for about 7/8 mts minutes. Just peek in once after 5 mts to check that the water has not completely dried out.When you see steam coming out from the lid put the flame on high count to 10 and get the pan off the heat and let it stand for 5 minutes to let the rice cook in the steam. Perfect steam rice ready.