Tarka rice is a staple in Pakistani and desi households. We serve Tarka rice with almost every curry, karahi, and stew. This rice dish is so easy to make and requires only five ingredients. Brown thinly sliced onions, add cumin seeds, season it with salt and add enough water to cook rice. In under 30 minutes, your perfectly fluffy rice will be ready.
A complete guide to rice
New rice
Long-grain basmati rice is soft, fluffy, and has a unique flavor. When you buy a bag of basmati rice, it is usually the produce of the season, which I consider new rice. New basmati rice is sweet and has more water content. I use a smaller quantity of water to cook this rice. For every one cup of rice, add one cup of water. Make sure to soak the rice for at least 30 minutes before cooking.
Aged rice
Aged basmati rice is less sweet and cooks well but has less water content. To cook aged basmati rice I use one and a half cups of water for every one cup of rice. These rice are perfect to make pulao and biryani.
Brown rice
Brown basmati rice has more fiber because the barn is not removed completely. I like to use double the quantity of water to make brown basmati rice. For every one cup of soaked brown basmati rice use two cups of water.
Sella rice
Sella rice is used to make biryani or sweet rice. To make sella rice, I usually boil rice with plenty of water, once 90% of sella rice is cooked I like to drain and then steam them.
How to store leftover rice
Keep any leftover rice in an airtight container. For reheating and storing check my complete guide on how to reheat rice in this blog post.
Tarka rice
Ingredients
- 1 cup rice
- 3/4 tsp salt or to taste
- 1 tsp cumin seed
- 1 small onion yellow or red onion
- 1/3 cup oil
- 1.5 cups water
Instructions
- Add rice to a bowl and wash rice 2-3 times until the water runs clear. Now add water and let them soak for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, peel and slice onions. Add onions and oil in a pot. Cook on medium heat until onions turn light golden brown.
- Add cumin seeds and salt. Add 1.5 cups of water, cover, and let it boil.
- Next, add soaked rice, mix it, and cover the pot. Let it cook until most of the water evaporates.
- Once most of the water evaporates, cover the pot with a paper towel or foil and the lid. Lower the heat to the lowest setting of the stove and let it steam for 10-15 minutes.
Notes
- Don’t over-mix rice while cooking, this will break the grain.
- It is a kid-friendly rice dish but feels free to add any spices you like, chilies, garam masala, or even biryani masala.