Ghee rice recipe is one of the most simplest one pot aromatic rice dishes that can be prepared in a jiffy. It is best served with a gravy side dish like kurma, Chicken gravy or Egg curry. Ghee rice is quite a popular South Indian food that is mostly prepared for a special meal. It is often served in restaurants with a kurma curry or chicken curry or any egg or non-veg gravy.
Ghee rice is mildly flavored with desi ghee, basic spices like cardamom, bay leaf, cinnamon and cloves. The flavor of the fresh desi ghee is unique and totally elevates the flavor of the dish. Do not try this recipe with oil.
Ghee rice is made all over South India with slight variations. It is found on restaurant menus, wedding menus and even made in many homes for a weekend meal.
In this post, I am sharing 2 ghee rice recipes. In the first recipe, the rice is cooked in ghee with spices. Second recipe calls for seasoning the spices in ghee and adding the steamed rice like the fried rice.
I often follow the second recipe for kids meal, ideally for dinner. A simple veggie salad is always good with that and makes the meal complete.
Preparation for ghee rice recipe
1. Wash and soak rice for 20 minutes.
2. Add 1½ tablespoon ghee to a cooker or a pot. Next add 14 cashews and fry till lightly golden. Also add 14 raisins. When they turn plump, remove to a plate and keep them aside. We need them for garnishing.
3. Transfer 1 medium thinly sliced onion to the same pan, fry them evenly stirring often until golden or light brown. Remove them to the same plate and keep aside. We need them for garnishing as they add flavor to the rice.
How to make ghee rice
4. To the same pan, add ½ tablespoon ghee. Add 1 bay leaf, 1 star anise, 4 cloves, 1 small cinnamon, 3 cardamoms and a strand of mace. Fry for a min. Then add 2 sliced green chilis and fry for a min.
5. Next add drained rice.
6. Fry for about 3 to 4 minutes, stirring evenly and frying.
7. Add half teaspoon salt. Pour 1¾ cups water if cooking in a cooker. To cook in a pot, pour 2 cups water. Stir and taste test the water. It has to be slightly salty.
8. If cooking in a pot, bring the water to a boil and then regulate the flame to low. Cook covered until the rice is fully cooked. Turn off the heat when done and leave the pot covered for 10 to 15 mins. The heat in the pot will make the rice fluffy.
If making ghee rice in a pressure cooker, Cook for 1 whistle on a medium high flame.
9. When the pressure releases, fluff up the ghee rice with a fork.
Garnish with raisins, cashews, fried onions and coriander leaves.
Ghee rice recipe – Recipe 2
This is more like a fried rice, needs only pepper powder and no other spice is used. This makes a good lunch box dish for kids but without egg. I wonder if eggs keep good for so long in kids lunch box.
This can be made without egg or you can even use some of your favorite veggies like carrot, peas, capsicum and beans. I have grown up eating this more often during winters.
Pepper and curry leaves fried in ghee emits a great aroma & taste.
Most times I end up making this for my lunch. We don’t mind having it without any raita or gravy and just love to have it with grated carrot, sliced onions or cucumbers.
If you are a non-vegetarian then you can try this with a hot and spicy andhra chicken fry or a gravy like chicken chettinad or butter chicken.
Recipe 2
Ingredients
- ½ cup basmathi rice
- 1 boiled egg (pierce it with a fork randomly) (optional)
- fistful of cashews and raisins
- 2 tbsp ghee
- 10 pepper corns (coarsely crushed)
- 2 sprig curry leaves
- 1 green chili slit
- 1 to 2 garlic chopped
- Salt to taste
Method
1. Cook rice and cool it completely.
2. Heat a pan with ghee, fry cashews and raisins, set these aside to a plate
3. Add garlic, curry leaves, green chili and egg. fry till the leaves turn crisp
4. Next add coarsely crushed pepper powder and salt, saute
5. Add rice to the pan and mix well. fry for 2 minutes on high
6. Garnish with cashews and raisins just before serving.
Tips to make the best ghee rice
- Use good quality ghee that has a nice aroma. It is the good quality ghee that brings a unique aroma to the rice. If possible use desi cow’s ghee or at least puree ghee. Avoid using oil.
- Always rinse the rice well a few times before making ghee rice. This helps to get rid of the excess starch and prevents the rise from turning mushy.
- Soaking rice for at least 30 mins before cooking helps the rice to expand well & cook up to fluffy grains.
- Different regions use different kinds of rice to make ghee rice. I make it using aged basmati rice. You can use any other rice of your choice.
- Frying rice in ghee for 3 to 5 mins is another key step to make perfect ghee rice.
You can serve this ghee rice
veg kurma
potato kurma
soya chunks kurma
egg kurma
chicken kurma
More one pot rice recipes
Veg pulao
Tomato Rice
Lemon Rice
Recipe 1
Ghee rice recipe | How to make ghee rice
For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card
Ingredients (US cup = 240ml )
- 1 cups basmati rice
- 2 tablespoons ghee or clarified butter
- 1 medium onion thinly sliced (optional)
- 1¾ cups water for Indian cooker (1¼ cup Instant pot, 2 cups for normal pot)
- 1 green chilies (slit or chopped)
- ½ teaspoon Salt (adjust to taste)
- 14 cashewnuts or kaju
- 14 raisins
Whole spices
- 2 inch cinnamon or dalchini
- 4 cloves or laung
- 3 to 4 green cardamoms or elaichi
- 1 strand mace or javitri
- 1 star anise or chakri phool
- 1 bay leaf or tej patta
Instructions
Preparation
- Wash 1 cup rice until the water runs clear.
- Soak it for at least 20 to 30 minutes. Drain and set aside.
- While the rice soaks, slice 1 medium onion thinly & slit 1 green chilies.
- Heat a pressure cooker or a pot with 2 tablespoons of ghee.
- Fry 14 cashews till lightly golden, add 14 raisins and stir up.
- When they turn plump set them aside in a plate.
- To the same pan, add onions. You can also skip onions.
- Fry them till golden to make the fried onions / barista.
- These onions are used for garnishing and they add flavor to the rice.
How to make ghee rice
- Add all the whole spices to the pan & fry for a min until aromatic.
- Add green chilies, drained rice & fry on a medium flame for about 3 to 4 minutes. Stir to prevent burning .
- Pour 1¾ cups water and salt as needed.
- You may need to add more or less water depending on the rice.
- Taste the water and check the salt. If needed add more.
- If making in a pressure cooker allow the cooker to whistle once on a medium flame. If making in pot, cover and cook on a very low flame until the rice is done.
- When the pressure releases, gently fluff up the rice with a fork.
- Transfer ghee rice to a serving bowl or plate. Garnish with raisins, cashews, fried onions and coriander leaves.
- Serve ghee rice with any gravy like kurma, curry or even with egg roast. You can also eat it plain.
Instant pot ghee rice
- Press the SAUTE button & add ghee to the inner steel pot of the Instant pot.
- When the ghee melts, add the cashews & saute until they turn light golden.
- Then add in the raisins and stir until they plum up. Remove the cashews and raisins to a small plate.
- Stir in the onion slices to the ghee and spread them in a single layer.
- Next stir them every now and then until they turn golden to light brown & aromatic. If the pot is too hot, you can switch the saute to low by pressing (saute button again). Drain the ghee well and remove to the same plate.
- Now add in all the whole spices, followed by the green chilli and drained rice.
- Saute for 30 to 60 seconds & press CANCEL button.
- Pour water and add salt. Deglaze by scrubbing the bottom of the steel pot with a spatula. Taste the water and add more salt if needed.
- Secure the instant pot with the lid. Position the steam release handle/ vent to sealing.
- Press the PRESSURE COOK button (or manual on older IPs) and set the timer to 5 mins.
- When the IP beeps, wait for natural pressure release for 2 to 3 mins. For softer rice, you can wait upto 5 mins. Then release the rest manually by moving the steam release handle from sealing to venting.
- Cool down a bit and then garnish ghee rice with fried onions, raisins and cashews.
Notes
- To double the recipe, you can double all the whole spices and keep the star anise same.
- The recipe can be doubled & made in Instant pot. Cook time remains the same.
- Wait for the rice to cool down a bit before garnishing.
Alternative quantities provided in the recipe card are for 1x only, original recipe.
For best results follow my detailed step-by-step photo instructions and tips above the recipe card.
Video
NUTRITION INFO (estimation only)
© Swasthi’s Recipes
Hi, I wish to tell that while mentioning vegetarian dish plssssssss don’t use any non veg dish name. When I c non veg item mentioned wil stop reading the recipe. Pls going fwd in veg recipes pls use only veg items. Separately u write about non veg dish for non veg eaters. I am pure vegetarian it hurts to c non veg mixed in veg recipes.
Hi Prathima,
Yes noted. I understand your feelings. Actually I take care not to include them in any of my vegetarian recipes but since ghee rice is more popular among the non-vegetarians I have done it. Going forward I won’t. Thank you!
Swasthi, another terrific recipe and went so well with your Paneer Makhani. Also, I soaked the rice for about 1hr – lovely long cooked grains resulted. Will try the double recipe version next time.
Glad to know Sandy
Yes soaking longer helps.
Thank you so much for leaving a comment.
I made this recipe using instant pot. It was delicious! Thank you very much.
Welcome Swetha
Glad to know!
Culinary skills made easy.
Yes Yes.
Thank you
Tried and tested, yummy. All your recipes are great.Thanku
I tried this yesterday and it turned out to be very nice 🙂
It was my first time at trying any fried rice or pulao kind of dish and the instructions were very clear and helpful, thanks a lot !!!!
You are welcome Roshan
Glad to know the recipe worked well.
Thank you
I loved the way,how you have made mention of the minutest details and the pains taken for the step.to step instructions.Great work.
Will try it today,and I’m sure it will turn out to be sumptuous..
Hello Sahana
Thank you so much! Hope you enjoy it.
Hi,
What is the quantity of whole spices if the receipe is to be altered for 4 people?
Hi,
Use 6 cloves and 6 cardamoms & keep the rest same.
Hi could you please state how you can make this in an instapot?
Hi Anusha,
Thanks for rating the recipe. I have updated the recipe card with Instant pot Instructions. Hope this helps
Just made this and I have to say it was such a delicious and comforting meal! I didn’t have mace or cardamom, but it still turned out amazing. This is my first try at a recipe from Swasthi and believe me when I say I will definitely be back for more. Thank you for compiling such an amazing library of delicious Indian foods. I feel like I hit the goldmine here. So excited to try more.
Hi Jordan Crowl
You are most welcome! Glad you liked the dish. Hope you enjoy more recipes from here!
Thank you so much!
Swasthi, I love your site and all your recipes so much. I have learned so much about the Indian cuisine by trying out your recipes. They always taste amazing! This rice recipe is so simple and yet incredibly delicious! Thank you so much!!
Hi Katerina,
You are welcome. Glad you love the site. Yes ghee rice is so simple yet tastes so good. Thank you!
🙂
And if I’m using keeri samba rice, how many cups of water should i use?
Hi Rifa,
for every cup of rice, use 1 & 3/4 cups water works fine in a pot.
Hi, once the rice cooks we don’t have to drain the water like we usually do?
Hi Rifa,
No! not for this recipe! Draining the water will also drain the ghee & other flavors. Use water just as needed and not excess then you don’t need to.
Since I’m using normal rice, won’t my rice turn mushy? I’m a newbie actually so I’ve had fails cooking the rice properly
Rifa,
Are you cooking in a cooker or pot? I can help you
I use a pot
Swasti,
Love your recipes. Thank you very much. Please share andhra style coconut curry /podi kura
Hi Smita
You are welcome. Yes sure I will
This came out really well
Thank you for the wonderful recipe
Welcome Ameetha
Glad your ghee rice came out good.
🙂
Love this recipe. This turned out awesome with chicken curry.
Your ghee rice looks yummy! Love your recipes. I also add some methi leaves to this recipe. Can you please share palak chicken recipe?
Hi Ramya,
Thank you. Adding methi leaves to ghee rice is a nice thought. I can but will take time to share chicken recipes.
Thank you Ma’am for sending the recipes. Your recipes are very nice.
Please send how to make chikki like we get in shops. I tried many times but it becomes sticky. My children ask me again and again.
Hi Bajo
You are welcome. Thank you so much for following the blog. I have already shared the recipe of chikki here. Please check it. Hope your kids will like it. Thanks again
Hello Swasthi,
I plan to make ghee rice for 8 people. Which is better pressure cooker or pot? I have never cooked rice for so many people. Also I have an electric cooker. Can I use that? Please help.
Hi Sunitha,
It depends on how comfortable you are cooking in a pot. For 8 people I think cooking in a cooker is easier. Just follow the same instructions mentioned in the recipe. You can also make in a rice cooker. First rinse the rice in the electric cooker pot. Then make the tempering in a separate pan and add it to the pot. You can use 3.5 cups rice and 6 cups water should be fine if using aged basmati rice. I am not sure about other kinds of rice. Towards the end if you feel the rice is not done fully, then quickly pour 1/4 cup hot water. Stir and cook further. Hope this helps.
I tried this recipe… Very simple and turned out really nice.. thank you 🙂
Welcome Sherin Jackson
Yum
Love this ghee rice with you chicken kurma. Always a winner when I have relatives for lunch. Thank you very much.
You are welcome Meena
Glad to know you like the recipes. Thanks for the comment.
Thank you so much swasthi. My kids love the egg ghee rice. Let the recipes keep coming!!! Awesome!!!!