Rice is a staple food for most south Asian countries. However, if you want to taste different varieties in the rice, you must visit India. One humble ingredient, when combined with other spices, makes the rice so rich in flavor that you may perhaps want to eat every day. Jeera rice or zeera rice or cumin rice is one of the flavored rice dishes. There are a variety of ways to prepare this dish. Jeera rice didn’t appear in Indian cuisine until the early fifteenth century. Hence, you cannot claim that this particular dish has an Indian root. Nevertheless, it’s rice; it’s healthy, and it’s tasty.
Health Benefits
Cumin seeds are a rich source of Iron. This aromatic spice is known for its medical properties since ancient times. It promotes digestion, boosts the immune system and has anti-carcinogenic properties. It may also help in weight loss.
Ingredients
1 cup basmati rice
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 bay leaf
black cardamom
2 cinnamon (small size)
2 cloves
1 tbsp ghee
How To Make Jeera Rice
- Wash the rice and soak it in water for 20 - 30mins.
- In a wide pan, add ghee. Allow it to melt and wait for 30 - 60 seconds.
- Add cumin seeds, black cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, and bay leaf.
- Once cumin seeds start to sizzle, add salt.
- Drain the water from rice.
- Add the soaked rice and stir it gently.
- Add 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil.
- Reduce the flame and cover the pan with a lid.
- On low flame cook it till all the water is absorbed.
- Check using one or two morsels of rice grain.
- Once the rice cooked, turn off the stove and leave it aside for 5mins.
- Hot and delicious jeera rice is ready to serve. Cherish the meal at work by packing it with your stainless steel tiffin box or food containers
Trivia
- Cumin seeds are a popular member of the parsley family used in Indian, North African and Mediterranean cuisines.
- Cumin is derived from the old English word ‘Cymen’ and the Latin word ‘Cuminum’, probably from the Semitic origin.