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Basmati rice cooking time

6 years ago

My post disappeared and showed up in another thread. So I’ll try again. My DH shopped today and came home with a bag of Uncle Ben’s basmati rice. As I was putting it away, I noticed that the label read ready in 10 minutes. I’ve always cooked white rice for 20 minures after it comes to a boil. I couldn’t see that it was par boiled or something. So I cooked it for 10 and it was perfect! My question is, have I been doing it wrong all these years or is this something new.

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arkansas girl

6 years ago

YES "converted" is what Uncle Ben's calls it...my mind was blank. Other brands just call it "par-cooked" I believe!

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Comments (7)

arkansas girl
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
I think that Uncle Ben's is par boiled rice. Regular rice wouldn't be done in only 10 minutes.
Louiseab thanked arkansas girl
Louiseab
Original Author
6 years ago
I think you’re rijght, but it isn’t labelled as such. Anyway, it was good and not at all like Minute rice
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carolb_w_fl_coastal_9/10
6 years ago
Isn't it called 'converted' rice? That means it's par-cooked, which is why it takes less time.

Found this:

https://www.gourmetsleuth.com/ingredients/detail/converted-rice

I always cook white rice 25 minutes on low heat, covered, and brown rice 45 minutes the same way. I don't ever use converted rice.

And IMO, white jasmine rice has a better the flavor than basmati.
ghostlyvision
6 years ago
My husband buys basmati rice almost exclusively (not Uncle Ben's but in 10 pound bags of various brands from Indopak stores), when I cook it, I rinse it well, put it in a pot with water just to fully cover the surface of the rice, cover pot and bring to a boil, turn it down to a low simmer and let it go for 8 minutes, turn off the flame and let it steam for another 10-15 minutes and it turns out nice and fluffy.

When hub cooks it, he rinses, covers it with water, lets it boil uncovered until the water is no longer visible on the surface (about 5 min.), covers, turns off heat and lets it steam about 20 minutes, about the same results as mine.

I think you'll get decent results following the package directions and not cooking it longer than 10 minutes (and that may be a bit long).
plllog
6 years ago
Whole regions of the world boil rice loose in water like pasta. I usually do the five minutes then off the heat covered thing, but if I'm not sure how long a particular variety should cook, I'm always tempted to do the pasta boil style.

I got very curious about the Uncle Ben's and did some searching. I couldn't find Uncle Ben's basmati except for the zappable already cooked pouch of Ready Rice. So I agree with the others that it must have been "converted".

I also learned that converted rice is boiled or steamed before it's polished, which makes some of the vitamins absorb into the endosperm, unlike regular white rice where all the vitamins from the bran and germ go away.
Islay Corbel
6 years ago
I boil basmati for 6 minutes, and put the lid on and let it rest.

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