How To Cook Rice In A Steam Oven

Rice is one of the most frequently cooked grains in Indian cuisine. Whether you’re pairing it with gravy or making one-pot dishes like khichdi, pulao, or biryani, rice can easily be incorporated into day-to-day meals. Even though traditionally, for most recipes, rice is boiled, steaming in a steam oven offers many advantages.

If you’re cooking rice in Usha’s steam oven, which offers 3-level cooking with 39 preset menus, you are sure to get your rice fluffier and more flavourful. However, if this is your first time making rice in a steam oven, here is a step-wise guide that will take you through the process of making rice using the modern and efficient Usha appliance.

Also Read: 6 Low-Calorie Dish To Prepare In Usha's Steam Oven

Why Should You Cook Rice In A Steam Oven

In a typical Indian kitchen, where rice is cooked almost every day, Usha’s steam oven is just the perfect appliance you need. Here’s why:

• With the steam-based heating system, the oven cooks each grain uniformly and prevents rice from being sticky.
• You don’t have to stir the rice; keep a check. The Usha steam oven will do its job, and you can focus on your main course.
• Cooking rice in a steam oven also helps to preserve the maximum amount of nutrients in the dish.

Steps To Cook Rice In Usha’s Steam Oven

Washing And Soaking

The first step to cooking rice in a steam oven is to pick the rice, measure the amount, and wash the grains thoroughly. Once rinsed, you can soak the rice grains for about half an hour. This will help to get evenly cooked rice while preventing the grains from sticking to each other.

Ratio Of Water To Rice

If you’re making plain rice on a stove to pair with a curry or a gravy-based dish, as a thumb rule, you can add rice and water in a ratio of 1:2. However, since a steam oven retains the moisture content, you can use slightly lesser water, i.e., 1:1.5. This means that for every 1 cup of rice, you can add 1.5 cups of water to cook in any steam oven.

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Add Spices

Once you have added the soaked rice and water, you can add some oil and spices. Depending on the dish, you can add cumin seeds, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, cloves, cinnamon, etc. If you’re making pulao, you can also add veggies and chopped herbs like coriander and mint.

Cooking Vessel

For most rice-based recipes, a stainless steel tray would be perfect for cooking rice in Usha’s steam oven. However, if you are making an elaborate with a lot of ingredients or a larger batch of rice, you can always use a deep container. Just make sure that you choose the size of the vessel depending on the quantity of rice you’re cooking to avoid overcrowding.

Check out Usha’s range of kitchen appliances here.