How to cook basic white rice?

Ingredients:

Rice - 1 cup
Water - 2 cups
Oil (optional)

Cooking time: 15-20 mins

The generic measurement to cook any rice is 1:2, where you take a cup of rice against 2 cups of water. However the rice that I cook is boiled ponni rice which is aged for more than a year and hence can cook in about 3 cups of water. We need to stick to the measurements of water against rice else the rice would become clumpy and over cooked.

There are different pots to cook rice in, like it could be cooked in a vessel and then be drained, it could be cooked in rice cooker or it also could be cooked in pressure cooker.

In order to achieve soft cooked rice in all 3 ways, it is better to soak the rice at least 5-10 mins. Also note to rinse the rice first and then soak, else you may end up breaking the soaked rice.

I prefer cooking rice in electric rice cooker as its easier and the rice seems not to stick to each other this way. However my mother prefers rice being cooked and drained, so that there is much less starch.

If you prefer to cook the rice in a pressure cooker, rice will be cooked perfectly 2 whistles.

I am going to show how to cook white rice in a  electric rice cooker.

Here I have soaked the rice for almost 15 mins.

Next I took 3 cups of water against one cup of rice, for I am using ponni boiled rice.

Here I have added soaked rice in the rice cooker for it to be cooked.

It takes about 20-30 mins for rice to cook as I took 3 cups of water instead of 2 cups which is the norm.

White rice will be cooked in approximately 20 mins.

This is how it looks if you cook in pressure cooker.

About the dish:
Rice is staple dish in Asia. It is used in different forms in different parts of the world. If you consider India, there are various types of rice and different ways in which they are consumed. India stands second in rice production following China.

I come from Tamil Nadu state of India which is known for its rice and rice dishes. I specifically am from Tirunelveli which literally translates to "paddy hedge". So rice has been in and out of my daily routine and I cannot survive without rice. Unlike many North Indians who prefer roti over rice, we prefer rice over rotis.

If you have cooked your rice said above, there are so many ways to consume this. You can accompany this humble rice with any vegetarian or non-vegetarian kuzhambu, make many number of variety rices like tomato rice, puli sadam, lemon rice, coconut rice, the list goes on.  Or you may incorporate this with any Indo-Chinese dishes like fried rice.

In many villages, the left over rice are soaked in water overnight which yields a delicious pazhaya sadam (which literally means old rice). You add a little bit of butter milk and accompany it with fresh green chilies or crushed shallots or a basic pickle. This not just prevents food wastage, it is healthy too. We used to have this daily during our summer days when it used to be very very hot in Chennai.