This jeera rice recipe is PERFECT, non-sticky, fluffy, fragrant and delicious. The simple steamed rice is simply flavored with jeera (aka cumin seeds), hence the name Cumin rice or Jeera pulao.
This jeera rice recipe turned out exactly like your favorite Indian restaurant and it is best served with a side dish like dal, beans or curry, or gravy.
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❤️About This Recipe
One-pot method: This is quick to make and you’ll have just one pot to wash afterward. In this jeera rice recipe method, temper the whole spices, and cumin seeds in ghee and then cook the rice with the spices in the water. This way the rice absorbs the flavors well.
Impress your guests: Whenever you have guests coming, you don’t want to serve them plain rice. So this jeera pulao is the dish that you want to make which takes no extra effort yet is impressive.
🧾Ingredient Notes
Here is a pic of the ingredients you’ll need to make this simple, easy-to-make jeera rice recipe.
- Rice: You can make jeera rice with any rice variety. You can use white or brown rice.
- But traditionally and to make it restaurant-style, I recommend using good quality long-grain basmati rice. For guests or special occasion meals, I use basmati rice as this variety gives the best flavor and texture.
- For day-to-day meals, I use short grain variety, jeerasar rice. You can use other short-grain varieties like krishna kamod, sona masoori, seeraga samba, etc. You need to adjust the water quantity depending on the type of rice you’re using.
- Ghee: I use homemade ghee and it adds a nice aroma and flavor to the jeera rice.
- To make it vegan, you can use oil instead.
- Whole spices: They add a nice aroma to the dish. Always add spices to the hot ghee so they release their natural oil and flavor the ghee.
- Cumin seeds: The key ingredient of the dish. It adds a nutty, earthy flavor. Not only for flavor but cumin seeds have nutritional and medicinal values as well. It helps in easy digestion.
- Lime juice: A few drops of lime or lemon juice keep the rice grain white and prevent them from getting a yellow hue.
👩🍳Step By Step Photo Instructions
1) Take basmati rice in a strainer and rinse under running cold water until the water runs clear. Soak rice in enough water for 15-20 minutes.
2) After that, drain the soaking water and discard. Let the rice grain dry out for 5-10 minutes and meantime prep the ingredients for jeera rice.
3) Heat the ghee in a saucepan on medium heat. Once hot add whole spices (cloves, cinnamon and bay leaves). Saute for 40-50 seconds or until you get a nice aroma of the spices.
4) Add cumin seeds and let them sizzle. Cumin seeds will turn light brown and becomes fragrant.
5) Add drained rice and saute for 1 minute.
6) Add water.
7) Add salt.
8) Squeeze a few drops of lime juice.
9) Let the water come to a boil.
10) As soon as it starts boiling, LOWER the to lowest possible, and cover the pan with a lid. Cook for 17 minutes without opening the lid.
11) Turn off the stove and let the rice rest covered for 10 minutes. Then open the lid.
12) Fluff up the rice gently.
💭Expert Tips
- Soaking the rice step gives a fluffy and soft texture, so I would not skip it.
- Don’t burn the cumin seeds otherwise, they taste bitter. Be careful and keep an eye on it, cumin seeds tend to burn easily. So saute for a few seconds only until they turn brown in color.
- Resting the cooked jeera rice for 10 minutes (covered) is an important step. During this time, rice grains will firm up and they do not break as you fluff up later. The piping hot rice grains are fragile and if your fluff them up right away without resting, they will get mushy.
- Do not stir or open the lid to take a peek while the rice is cooking (covered).
🍽 Serving Ideas
- Just like you get in the restaurants, serve jeera rice with dal fry, dal tadka or dal makhani. It goes well with any other lentils, and beans dish like rajma, chana dal, whole masoor dal, etc.
- Jeera rice goes well with Indian curry (gravy dish) like paneer butter masala, palak paneer, aloo matar, malai kofta, matar mushroom, matar paneer, etc.
- Serve raita, papad and kachumber salad on the side.
Check Out Other Rice Dishes
Did you try this jeera rice recipe? I’d love to hear about it! Leave a review in the comment section below.
📋 Recipe Card
Jeera Rice Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup Basmati rice
- 1 tablespoon Ghee (clarified butter)
- 1 Bay leaf
- 2 Cloves
- 1 inch Cinnamon stick
- 2 teaspoons Cumin seeds
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ½ teaspoon Lemon juice or Lime juice
- 2 cups Water
Instructions
- Take basmati rice in a strainer and rinse under running cold water until the water runs clear. Soak rice in enough water for 15-20 minutes.
- After that, drain the soaking water and discard. Let the rice grain dry out for 5-10 minutes and meantime prep the ingredients for jeera rice.
- Heat the ghee in a saucepan on medium heat. Once hot add whole spices (cloves, cinnamon and bay leaves). Saute for 40-50 seconds or until you get a nice aroma of the spices.
- Add cumin seeds and let them sizzle. Cumin seeds will turn light brown and becomes fragrant.
- Add drained rice and saute for 1 minute.
- Add water, salt and lime juice. Let the water come to a boil.
- As soon as it starts boiling, LOWER the to lowest possible, and cover the pan with a lid. Cook for 17 minutes without opening the lid.
- Turn off the stove and let the rice rest covered for 10 minutes.
- Then open the lid and fluff up the rice gently.
Notes
- Soaking the rice step gives a fluffy and soft texture, so I would not skip it.
- Don’t burn the cumin seeds otherwise, they taste bitter. Be careful and keep an eye on it, cumin seeds tend to burn easily. So saute for a few seconds only until they turn brown in color.
- Resting the cooked jeera rice for 10 minutes (covered) is an important step. During this time, rice grains will firm up and they do not break as you fluff up later. The piping hot rice grains are fragile and if your fluff them up right away without resting, they will get mushy.
- Do not stir or open the lid to take a peek while the rice is cooking (covered).
- A few drops of lime or lemon juice keep the rice grain white and prevent them from getting a yellow hue.
Farida Banu
Simply super rice recipe.
Kanan
Thank you