Ghee rice turns up at South Indian weddings, Malabar Sunday lunches and weeknight dinners in homes that have run out of ideas. At its best it is fragrant, faintly sweet from fried onions, with every grain separate and glossy. At its worst it is buttery mush. The difference is almost entirely technique.

Ingredients

Method

  1. Wash and soak the rice. Rinse until the water runs nearly clear, then soak for 20 minutes. Drain well. Wet rice spits in hot ghee and turns sticky, so give it five minutes in a sieve.
  2. Fry the garnish first. Heat 2 tbsp ghee in a heavy pan on medium. Fry the cashews until pale gold and lift them out. Add the raisins for a few seconds until they puff, then lift those out too. Fry the onion slowly, stirring, until deep brown and crisp. This takes 10 to 12 minutes. Remove half the onions for garnish.
  3. Bloom the spices. Add the remaining ghee to the pan with the rest of the onions. Add bay leaf, cardamom, cloves and cinnamon, and let them sizzle for 30 seconds.
  4. Toast the rice. Add the drained rice and stir gently for 2 minutes, until the grains look translucent at the edges and are coated in ghee. This step is what keeps them separate later.
  5. Cook. Pour in the hot water, add salt, bring to a boil, then cover and cook on the lowest heat for 12 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave the lid on for 10 more minutes.
  6. Fluff and finish. Fluff with a fork, not a spoon. Scatter over the fried onions, cashews and raisins.

What makes the difference

The ratio. Soaked basmati needs less water than you think. 1¾ cups for a cup of rice gives firm, separate grains. If you use a pressure cooker, drop it to 1½ cups and take it off after one whistle.

The onions. Pale onions make the rice taste raw and sweet. Properly browned ones give it depth. Be patient with them.

The ghee. In a dish this plain there is nowhere for the fat to hide. A cream-separated ghee will make the rice rich. A cultured, bilona ghee makes it smell of something, which is the whole point of the dish. You do not need more than three tablespoons if the ghee has flavour of its own.

What to serve it with

Ghee rice wants a gravy with some body. Kerala chicken curry, a mild kurma, dal makhani or a plain chana masala all work. Something sharp on the side helps too: onion raita or a lime pickle.

If you have leftovers

Refrigerate within two hours. To reheat, sprinkle a tablespoon of water over the rice, cover, and warm on low heat. A few drops of fresh ghee stirred through at the end brings back the aroma that fades overnight.

We make this with our A2 Gir Cow Ghee, but any honest bilona ghee will do the job. The one thing we would not do is swap it for oil and call it ghee rice.