Indian cumin rice or jeera rice is a fragrant basmati rice recipe that is incredibly easy to make with this stove-top method. Ready in 30 minutes, this simple yet elegant recipe perfumes each long-grained rice grain with the warm, earthy notes of toasted cumin. Instant pot instructions included!
Have you ever wondered how to make the fragrant Indian cumin rice, popularly known as jeera rice? Well, I got you covered. This Indian cumin rice or jeera rice recipe is made at least once a week in our house, as it is in many other Indian households. Though just boiling the rice with water is the simplest stovetop rice recipe to make basmati rice, it is very common to flavor the rice with cumin seeds. It is a great way to add flavor and make the dish healthier.
There are so many recipes that you can serve jeera rice with. It compliments curries like shahi paneer, choley, butter chicken as well as all kinds of dals like my mixed lentil dal. Soups like this lentil soup with butternut squash and carrot ginger soup can also be served with a scoop of cumin rice for a hearty meal. This recipe is naturally gluten free!
Jump to:
- ✨Why you'll love this recipe?
- 📋Recipe Ingredients
- 📖Substitutions, Additions and Variations
- 👩🍳Steps to make this recipe
- 🍚How to make Jeera rice in Instant Pot?
- 💡Vaishali's Tips!
- 🥘My favorite rice pan!!!
- 🫙Storage, freezing, and reheating instructions
- 💭What else can I make with these ingredients?
- 👉Related
- Indian Cumin Rice or Jeera Rice
✨Why you'll love this recipe?
- 4 easy-to-find ingredients - just a few ingredients that you most likely have in your pantry or can easily find in a local grocery store.
- Less than 30 minutes - ready in under 30 minutes with minimal prep time and no special cooking equipment.
- A Versatile dish - a bowl of Indian cumin rice is a blank canvas....you can take it in any direction and to any flavor profile you like!
📋Recipe Ingredients
- Rice - use good quality basmati rice if you want the iconic flavor, texture, and aroma of Jeera rice. I love using Royal Basmati rice.
- Cumin seeds - or jeera, are the flavor booster of this recipe. They are easily available in most grocer stores and online.
- Ghee - we use ghee to toast the cumin seeds to release the flavors and then coat and toast the basmati rice. You can use my 1-ingredient ghee recipe to make ghee at home.
Don't forget to check out the recipe card below for a complete list of ingredients along with the quantities.
📖Substitutions, Additions and Variations
- Vegan - instead of ghee, you can use olive oil or avocado oil to make this recipe vegan
- Other rice varieties - you can use other "long-grained" rice or jasmine rice in this recipe but you would not get the same texture and aroma as basmati rice. Brown rice can also be used but the ratio of water to rice will differ.
- Add whole spices- such as whole cloves, green cardamom, and bay leaves, to enhance the rice's nuttiness further.
👩🍳Steps to make this recipe
Step 1: Take the raw rice in a deep mixing bowl and rinse a couple of times. Soak the rice while you get other things going (Image 1).
Step 2: Set a pan with a tight-fitting lid on medium-high heat. Add ghee and wait for it to melt and heat up. Once the ghee is melted and shiny, add cumin seeds. The cumin seeds will start to splutter and dance around in the hot ghee (Image 2).
Step 3: Drain the soaked rice and add it to the pan. Stir the rice around to make sure it is coated with ghee (Image 3). Keep stirring for 30 seconds or so until you can smell the toasted rice.
Step 4: Add water and salt (Image 4) and turn the heat to high.
Step 5: Cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid (Image 5) and let the water come to a boil. Once the water starts boiling, turn the heat to absolute low and set a timer for 15 minutes.
Step 6: Turn the heat off after 15 minutes. Take the lid off and fluff the cooked jeera rice (Image 6) with a fork or the stem of a spoon. Your Indian cumin rice is ready.
🍚How to make Jeera rice in Instant Pot?
- The quantities of the ingredients used do not change even if you cook the rice in Instant Pot.
- Wash and soak your rice. With your Instant Pot in saute mode, add the ghee to the stainless steel liner. Once the ghee is melted and hot, add the cumin seeds and wait for them to crackle. Drain the rice and add it to the Instant Pot. Mix so the rice is nicely coated with ghee and toasted for about a minute.
- Add the water and salt, covering the rice. Cancel saute mode and close the instant pot with its lid. Make sure the vent is in the"sealing" position. Set the instant pot to Manual pressure to cook for 5 minutes.
- After the five minutes are up, move the vent to pressure release position carefully and let the steam vent out. Open the lid carefully and gently fluff the rice with a fork.
💡Vaishali's Tips!
- Wash the rice 2-3 times - before cooking. This helps to get rid of some extra starch that is on the grains so that they do not end up sticking to each other.
- Toast the cumin seeds and the rice - as it deepens the flavors and aroma of this rice dish.
- Keep an eye on the cumin seeds - with the heat on medium-high, the cumin seeds can go from toasted to burnt very quickly. So as soon as they start to splutter add the rice. Do not wait for too long!
- Use hot water - you can use hot water from a kettle or microwave it. That would cut down the cooking time even further.
- Soaking the rice - is not required but if you have extra time on your hands, soak it for 15-20 minutes.
the best!
🥘My favorite rice pan!!!
I usually make rice in an age-old stainless steel kadhai that I got from India, but this Cuisinart pan with a helper handle and glass lid is my all-time favorite for this recipe!
🫙Storage, freezing, and reheating instructions
Store - Store your leftover Jeera Rice in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, or freeze it for up to 3 months in a resealable bag (just make sure the rice has cooled to room temperature first).
Reheat - You can reheat the rice straight from frozen - simply add a splash of water and warm it up in the microwave, no defrosting needed.
💭What else can I make with these ingredients?
- Basmati rice - got a 10 lb bag of basmati rice? You can make plain rice, make chicken biryani, make this sweet rice dish (zarda), my spinach rice recipe, Indian style lentils and rice, and many many more.
- Cumin seeds - There are a lot of recipes on my website that use cumin seeds. You can make my homemade garam masala, toast the cumin seeds and make bhuna jeera or a powder to use in my smashed potato and corn salad or in the paneer kathi rolls. Almost all the tadkas in my recipes start with whole cumin seeds like my sweet and sour pumpkin curry, Instant pot saag paneer, sweet corn curry and others.
👉Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
If you make this recipe be sure to leave a comment and let me know how you liked it! Share it on Instagram with the hashtag #thekitchendocs or share on Facebook, too.
Love – Vaishali
Indian Cumin Rice or Jeera Rice
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup Basmati Rice
- 2 teaspoon Ghee or olive oil/avocado oil
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 2 cups water
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Take the raw rice in a deep mixing bowl and rinse a couple of times. Soak the rice while you get other things going.
- Set a pan with a tight-fitting lid on medium-high heat. Add ghee and wait for it to melt and heat up. Once the ghee is melted and shiny, add cumin seeds. The cumin seeds will start to splutter and dance around in the hot ghee.
- Drain the soaked rice and add it to the pan. Stir the rice around to make sure it is coated with ghee. Keep stirring for 30 seconds or so until you can smell the toasted rice.
- Add water and salt and turn the heat to high.
- Cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid and let the water come to a boil. Once the water starts boiling, turn the heat to absolute low and set a timer for 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes, turn the heat off. Remove the lid and fluff the cooked jeera rice with a fork or the stem of a spoon. Your Indian cumin rice is ready.
Video
Notes
- The quantities of the ingredients used do not change even if you cook the rice in Instant Pot.
- Wash and soak your rice. With your Instant Pot in saute mode, add the ghee to the stainless steel liner. Once the ghee is melted and hot, add the cumin seeds and wait for them to crackle. Drain the rice and add it to the Instant Pot. Mix so the rice is nicely coated with ghee and toasted for about a minute.
- Add the water and salt, covering the rice. Cancel saute mode and close the instant pot with its lid. Make sure the vent is in the"sealing" position. Set the instant pot to Manual pressure to cook for 5 minutes.
- After the five minutes are up, move the vent to pressure release position carefully and let the steam vent out. Open the lid carefully and gently fluff the rice with a fork.
- Wash the rice 2-3 times - before cooking. This helps to get rid of some extra starch that is on the grains so that they do not end up sticking to each other.
- Toast the cumin seeds and the rice - as it deepens the flavors and aroma of this rice dish.
- Keep an eye on the cumin seeds - with the heat on medium-high, the cumin seeds can go from toasted to burnt very quickly. So as soon as they start to splutter add the rice. Do not wait for too long!
- Use hot water - you can use hot water from a kettle or microwave it. That would cut down the cooking time even further.
- Soaking the rice - is not required but if you have extra time on your hands, soak it for 15-20 minutes.
KEVIN FOODIE
Your rice dishes are always flavorful, and your Jeera rice is no different. I can only imagine the flavor the cumin seeds add to the rice. It is a simple and easy dish. I am still going to try your Ghee recipe. It has been busy of lately, but I hope to try making this rice dish.