Cleaning, Washing, and Soaking Rice

To wash Basmati rice, place the rice in a large pot and cover with water. Agitate gently with your hand without breaking the rice, then pour off the water. Repeat 5 times until the drained water is completely clean. If you use an ordinary colander to drain your rice, you may lose some rice through the holes. A fine-mesh, free-standing colander is needed so the water can drain from the rice. When properly washed rice is cooked, it gives off a delightful perfume that unwashed rice can never have. Another way of washing rice is to soak it for 30 minutes, drain and rinse thoroughly. In Gilan, rice would often be soaked in salt water in large quantities and used for cooking as needed. Soaking and cooking in salt water seems to help firm up the rice, lengthen it, and keep it separated and fluffy after the cooking process.