Basmati

The Indian rice most widely known in North America is basmati. It is long-grain and often described as “needle-shaped” because it is so narrow. The most prized basmati is grown in the Himalayan foothills in Northern India and Pakistan and of that, the top quality is known as “Dehra Dun basmati.” Another basmati is grown in western Bengal and is known as Patna. It is a very good rice, not as expensive or as aromatic as Dehra Dun basmati, and easily found in Indian groceries.

All basmati is very long grain rice, best when it has been “aged” for several years (some say up to ten years) before being husked. When it cooks, it expands greatly in volume (almost triple), but especially lengthwise, so it gets even more elongated.