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.
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.