Jeera Rice Recipe (Cumin Rice)

Fluffy Jeera Rice that will elevate any meal! This Jeera Rice is a quick way to add flavor and texture to your plain boring white rice & miraculously it tastes delicious with just anything. Fluffy soft Naan or fragrant Indian Cumin Rice is a must when you plan to make an Indian restaurant style curry.

I know you can always serve a curry with plain rice but this Jeera Rice is simply superb and enhances your palate. In this post I share 2 recipes to make a fluffy, non-sticky and aromatic Jeera Rice every time.

About Jeera Rice

Jeera is the Indian word for cumin seeds. So Jeera Rice is simply rice cooked with cumin seeds & ghee or butter. Other whole spices like cardamoms, bay leaf, cloves, cinnamon & mace are also sautéed in ghee to impart deeper flavors. The resulting dish is super fragrant with a warm & earthy aroma infused by the cumin seeds.

A lot of spices go into cooking authentic Indian food & cumin plays a key role. It not only flavors & add texture to the foods but also enhances the nutritional values. These tiny seeds are a good source or iron, zinc, copper & many other nutrients.

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Cumin /jeera has natural medicinal values & work great on the digestive system. Indians have been serving this rice with everything heavy like curries & dal, considering the medicinal values of jeera. Indian curries are usually heavy in fats so Jeera Rice may help in digestion.

After Biryani, Jeera Rice is one of the most ordered rice dishes in Indian restaurants. It is eaten with curries, dal and even with a simple Raita.

My Recipes (homestyle & restaurant)

As I said there are 2 ways you can make Jeera rice – Homestyle method and restaurant method. I follow the first method more often as it cooks in one pot & is convenient to make for the school & office boxes in the early mornings. I reserve the second one for occasions especially when I have guests or making a special restaurant style curry.

1. One pot Jeera Rice : This is good for a home preparation as it is quick to make even by newbies. In this method, the spices along with cumin are tempered in ghee or oil on a low heat until aromatic. Then basmati rice is fried/ sautéed along with the spices and later cooked with water.

This way of making jeera rice is as simple as cooking plain rice but you just makeover with some spices added to it. You will have some fragrant, fluffy & non-sticky rice to serve with your everyday sides.

This one pot dish can be made in a regular pot, traditional pressure cooker or Instant pot. I have instructions for all of them in the recipe card below. So this jeera rice is always my choice to go with
Chana Masala
Paneer Makhani
Aloo Gobi
Rajma Masala
Punjabi Chole

2. Restaurant style Jeera Rice : This is great to make when you have some precooked rice and you want to use up by flavoring it. Often this method is followed in the Indian restaurants as it is convenient for them to cook plain basmati rice in large quantity.

Then temper the rice as needed to make different dishes like jeera rice, pulao, fried rice, lemon rice etc. I have shown this method of making restaurant style jeera rice in the step by step photos as recipe 2. Serve this jeera rice with
Paneer Butter Masala
Paneer Tikka Masala
Palak Paneer
Dal Makhani
Butter Chicken

Photo Guide

How to make Jeera Rice (Stepwise photos – recipe 1)

Temper spices

1. Rinse 1½ cups aged basmati rice thrice and soak in 3 cups water for 20 mins. You can also follow the instructions on the pack. Drain to a colander and keep aside. If you are not using aged premium quality basmati, please do not soak. Just rinse, drain and start to cook.

2. On a low to medium flame, heat 2 tablespoons ghee or oil in a pot or pressure cooker. (Alternately use a instant pot on saute mode). Add the following whole spices:

• 1 bay leaf (Indian tej patta)
• 2 inch cinnamon piece
• 4 cloves
• 4 green cardamoms
• 2 teaspoons jeera (cumin seeds)
• 1 strand of mace (javitri) (optional). You can also omit all the whole spices mentioned above and just use jeera but you will miss those other flavors.

3. Let them sizzle for 2 mins, until jeera gets roasted well and begins to smell aromatic. This is the key step to bring out the flavor from jeera. Optionally add ¼ cup sliced onions and saute for 5 to 6 mins, until golden.

4. Add green chili and drained basmati rice.

5. Fry for 2 to 3 mins on a high flame, stirring only 3 to 4 times. Do not stir vigorously the rice grains can break.

Pour water

Caution: If you are not using aged basmati rice, please cut down the water as required depending on the kind. Start with 1½ cups only and add more as you cook.

6. Add ½ to ¾ teaspoon salt. Pour hot water as follows depending on the cooking method you follow.

• Instant pot – 1¾ cups or
• Stovetop pressure cooker – 2½ cups or
• Regular pot – 3 cups

Mix well and taste test to adjust salt. The water should taste slightly salty.

Cook Cumin Rice

7. Cook according to your method

• Stovetop pressure cooker: Cover and pressure cook on a high flame for 1 whistle. Let the pressure release/drop naturally.
• Instant pot : Press cancel, secure the lid and position the steam valve to sealing. Pressure cook for 5 mins and release the pressure immediately.
• Cooking in a regular pot, bring the water to a rolling boil on a high heat, turn down the heat to low. Cover and cook until the water is absorbed and the jeera rice is fully cooked through. It takes me about 15 to 17 mins. Keep checking after 13 minutes. Turn off the stove and keep the pot covered for at least 10 mins.

8. Open the lid and fluff up the jeera rice gently with a fork. You can also add a bit more of ghee if desired.

Serve it with your favorite curry or dal.

Expert Tips

Perfectly cooked jeera rice should be fluffy, non-sticky & aromatic. To make it the best do follow the tips given below:

1. Rice to Water Ratio: Here are my time-tested rice to water ratios. These ratios are for aged basmati rice. However if you are unsure of what kind of basmati you have, simply use the same amount you use to cook it plain. Also you may refer the package.

• 1:2 (Rice:water) ratio for cooking aged basmati rice in a pot.
• 1: 1½ cups + 2 tablespoons for cooking aged basmati rice (soaked) in a pressure cooker.
• 1: 1¾ cups for cooking aged basmati rice (unsoaked) in a pressure cooker.

2. Choosing rice: Always use the best quality aged basmati rice as it is the key to making fragrant jeera rice. Aged rice grains are less starchy so do not mush up after cooking. If you do not have basmati rice, you can use any other kind of rice that is less starchy. If using newly harvested rice, do not soak and reduce the amount of water.

3.Preparing rice: Rinse the rice well a few times in lot of water. I rinse it thrice. This helps to get rid of the excess starch from the rice grains & makes the rice non sticky. Avoid using the grains without thorough rinse even if they are organically grown.

4.Soaking rice: Soak the rice for at least 20 mins. Refer the package for soaking instructions & time. Well soaked basmati rice grains expand & cook up well to long fluffy grains.

5.Frying Jeera: Saute the Jeera well in ghee or butter along with other spices, on a low flame for 2 to 3 mins to bring out the aroma. This is another key step to make flavorful jeera rice.Frying the spices elevates the flavor & aroma of the entire dish.

6.Frying rice: To make jeera rice always fry the drained rice along with spices on a medium to high flame. While frying do not stir up much as the rice grains may break. This makes the cooked up jeera rice fragrant.

7.Onions: It is totally optional to use onion in the recipe. Yes they do add some flavor but can be skipped as this reduces the preparation & cooking time.

8.Spices: Jeera or cumin is the key in this recipe, but spices like cardamoms, bay leaf, cloves, cinnamon & mace do elevate the flavor of jeera rice to a considerable amount. So I always add these. If you do not have them you may avoid them and make.

Variations

I experiment a lot in my kitchen with various dishes as my little boys get bored eating the same dishes repeatedly. Though the following variations of jeera rice are very uncommon, they have always been a quick way to whip up dinner in no time.

These variations are more nutritious than a regular jeera rice plus they cut down the need to cook another side dish when you have no time. These ideas are my own and are not a part of jeera rice recipe.

If you are experimental like me in the kitchen then do try these variations:

1.You can follow the one pot method and make vegetable jeera rice. Add some mix veggies to the pot after frying the spices. This will be similar to a veg pulao but with milder aroma as there is no ginger garlic & mint used here. Plus the taste & flavor is totally different.

2. The second restaurant style jeera rice can be easily transformed to a roasted egg jeera rice. The same can be made with fish & prawns. To make this just fry eggs or marinated prawns or fish until golden. Set aside.

Then saute the spices until fragrant. Then add the rice and mix gently. I made this several times with all 3 of them & was surprised at how good this turns out.

Photo Guide

Restaurant style Jeera Rice (Stepwise Photos – recipe 2)

This method is more flavorful with the aroma of butter and cumin. This is good to make for occasions or when you have guests home since a good amount of butter goes into this. For this recipe, you can cook the rice in whatever way you like. The rice grains have to be fluffy and not mushy. In the instructions below I have shared how to cook rice perfectly in a pot.

You can also cook in a pressure cooker or instant pot.

Ingredients

• 1 cup basmati rice
• 2 to 3 tbsp ghee or oil
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 star anise
• 4 green cardamoms
• 2 tsps jeera or cumin
• 1 to 2 green chilies slit
• 4 cloves
• 1 strand of mace or javithri
• 3 to 4 tbsps fresh fine chopped coriander leaves

Instructions

1. Wash rice very well a few times. Drain and soak it for 20 mins. Drain the rice to a colander. Bring 4 cups of water to a boil. Then add some salt. When the water comes to a rolling boil, add the drained rice and cook on a medium high heat until the rice is just done. The rice has to be al dente meaning just cooked and not mushy. Then drain off the rice to a colander and keep it covered.

2. After 2 to 3 mins, fluff up the rice with a fork. You will have al dente cooked soft yet fluffy rice. Cool this completely.

3. Add 1 tbsp butter to a hot pan. Next add star anise, mace, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, bay leaf and green chili. Saute for 1 to 2 mins.

4. Lower the heat, add jeera.

5. Saute until you begin to smell them good. It takes around 2 to 3 mins. Switch off the stove. If using butter it will froth up, you can just ignore it.

6. Add 1 tbsp more of butter along with finely chopped coriander leaves. If your rice isn’t got enough salt you can add a bit more to the pan.

7. Then add the tempering to the rice. Mix gently all the spices & herbs. Make sure the rice is cooled completely before mixing it otherwise it will clump up and turn mushy.

Serve jeera rice with any gravy, curry or dal.

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