Steamed rice flavoured with cumin seeds, known as Jeera polao, is an impressive main dish served at dinner in a Punjabi restaurant complemented with side dishes like roti, dal tadka and salads. Often eaten just plain without any side dish, it is highly flavoursome, impressive, made using the simple process of cooking good quality rice. It is made with aromatic quintessential long-grain rice in the Indian, Middle Eastern, and Central Asian cuisine.
Information
Jeera Rice is made from freshly prepared non-sticky, fragrant rice, which does not look overly greasy or spiced.
About Jeera Rice
Jeera or cumin is one of the most aromatic Indian herbs used in the majority Indian curries. It has many health benefits. It aids in digestion and improves bowel movement. It secretes enzymes, which helps in breaking down sugars, fats and carbohydrates.
Basmati rice is native to India and more than 70% of the world’s basmati supply is produced in the country. The fragrant rice’s global demand is high that several countries, such as the United States, grow their basmati varieties and hybrids. Basmati rice works best in dishes like polao or biryani as an accessory to curries and stews.
Alternatively, there are some other rice-based recipes made from Jasmine rice, which is also a long-grain rice, known for mild to sweet flavor. It is a staple of Thai and Cambodian cuisine but is slightly sticky, for this reason, is not considered appropriate for Indian polao/ biriyani.
Restaurant-style Jeera Rice
Jeera rice is most popular Indian rice-based dishes served in global Indo – Pakistani or South East Asian restaurants. It is also called cumin rice or cumin polao which is lightly spiced, made with a slight sprinkling of whole garam masala, nevertheless, in the recipe, the earthy flavours of cumin override other textures.
Most restaurants make use of large vessels where the rice is simmered in boiling water to get non-sticky boiled rice. This rice is tempered with Jeera( Cumin) and other spices before serving.
Bay leaf, cloves, roasted cashew, raisins, cinnamon sticks are some optional ingredients which can be added to sauté the rice before garnishing.
Homemade Jeera Rice
Jeera pulao can be prepared with small pieces of seasonal greens, peas or small-cut vegetables like beans or carrots, to get distinct fresh flavor, which goes well with plain dal and kadhi. At home, one can make it in just one pot, where the rice is boiled and tempered with whole spices and cumin seeds in butter or ghee, or one can first temper the raw rice and other ingredients in a vessel and then boil rice to get clean fresh aromatic preparation.
How to serve?
Jeera rice is best served with a side dish like dal, beans or indian curry and other types of flavourful gravies.