Royal Chef's Secret Extra Long Grain Basmati Rice, 10 Lb Bag

Best basmati rice

The very first time I had Persian food was when an Iranian friend of mine took me to a Persian restaurant in Los Angeles 30 years ago. I was shocked when the plate arrived and had a big pile of (what looked to be) shredded coconut! Of course it was rice. Since then, I have been making Bastmati rice at home using Royal brand rice which is readily available. However, I could never replicate the rice I had at that restaurant and blamed it on my cooking technique. 30 years later (duh) I decided to do a deep dive into Bastmati. I thought Bastmati was all the same. NOT TRUE! There are many types and brands. Long story short, I settled on Royal Chef's Secret Extra Long Grain Bastmati to try. BINGO!! Even though it's twice as expensive as regular Royal Bastmati, the results were amazing. Beautiful long thin grains that were fluffy, flavorful and tender. I rinsed the rice well, soaked it for 30 minutes. My test was only for 1 cup of rice. Based on past experience, I did NOT follow the package instructions exactly. I only used 1.5 cups of water (instead of 2) and I did not boil the water first. I added the water, the drained rice, the butter, and the salt. Brought it to a boil uncovered, then covered it, reduced the heat on low to simmer 20 minutes or so. Then turned the heat OFF and let it sit for another 20 minutes. This method will not produce Tadig (crunchy bottom of the pot). To do that, turn the head up a bit and go 45-60 minutes simmer. Then invert the pot into a big bowl so the Tadig is on top to let is rest. This way the Tadig will stay crunchy. Enjoy!!!!!!!!!