Jeera Rice is the perfect accompaniment for your favorite Indian dishes. This restaurant-style Indian cumin rice is quick and easy to make. Toasting a few spices before adding the rice is all it takes to transform basic basmati into a scrumptious side.
Jeera is a Hindi word derived from a Sanskrit word meaning cumin seeds. Thus, jeera rice is quite simply rice with cumin seeds.
What you’ll find in many Indian restaurants, however, is taking that simple equation to the next level by adding some whole spices, which can include any combination of cinnamon sticks, cloves, cardamom pods, bay leaves, or star anise. This yields a more flavorful and fragrant side dish for your favorite Indian curries.
This fluffy, restaurant-style rice is extremely easy to make! If you don’t have all the spices, you can skip some of them, but make sure to include at least the cumin seeds because otherwise it isn’t jeera rice, now is it?
Ingredient notes
- Basmati Rice: This recipe uses white basmati rice, which is a specific type of long grain rice. I have not tested this recipe with brown basmati rice, but if you want to try it a good rule of thumb is for each cup of rice to increase the water by ¼ cup and also increase the cooking time by about 50%.
- Spices: You should definitely include the cumin seeds in your jeera rice, otherwise it’s not jeera rice! For the other spices, you can include whichever ones you want or substitute out for others. I use a cinnamon stick, whole cloves, and a bay leaf but you could also try some cardamom pods or star anise if you’d like.
- Ghee, Butter, or Oil: You'll need some kind of fat in which to toast your spices and then the rice. Ghee, which is clarified butter, is an obvious choice, but regular butter or a neutral oil will work too. I use Kerrygold Irish butter since it's higher in flavor and fat (has less water in it compared to American butters) and is a bit closer to what you'd get with ghee.
How to make it
Rinse basmati rice a few times with fresh tap water. Place the rinsed rice in a bowl and cover by at least 1-inch with water. Let it soak for about 30 minutes, then drain and set aside.
In a medium pot with a tight-fitting lid (one without a vent or hole in it), heat ghee, butter or oil over medium heat. Add the spices and lightly toast them for a few seconds.
Immediately add the drained rice, stirring to coat with the fat in the pan. Continue to toast the rice, stirring regularly, for about a minute.
Add the 2 cups of water and salt and stir to combine.
Bring the mixture to a boil and then immediately lower the heat to low and cover the pan. Allow the rice to gently cook for about 8 to 10 minutes (it cooks faster with soaked rice) or until all the water has evaporated and the rice is cooked through.
Remove from the heat, place a paper towel beneath the lid (this prevents condensation from dripping back onto the finished rice) and cover with the lid again. Let it rest, off the heat, for 10 minutes.
Remove the lid, fluff with a fork and serve. Diners can discard the bay leaf, cinnamon stick and whole cloves, or you could remove them before serving, but they add a bit of authenticity when you serve the rice at the table with the spices still inside.
Please scroll to the bottom of the post for the full recipe (in a printable recipe card) including ingredient amounts and detailed instructions.
Expert tips
Soaking the rice is an important step to achieve fluffy rice with distinct, separated grains. It also helps the rice cook faster. If you skip the soaking step, be prepared to cook your jeera rice longer than indicated.
Toasting the rice in the ghee or butter is also vital to getting the best results. Skip either of these steps (soaking and toasting), and your jeera rice will not be as fluffy and separated as the rice pictured here (instead it could be sticky and clumpy). This photo is before fluffing with a fork.
The perfect rice to water ratio for making jeera rice with white basmati rice is 1:2 (1 cup rice to 2 cups water) when cooking on the stove-top as the recipe indicates. This recipe is so simple and cooks quite fast that I genuinely don't think it's worth making it in an instant pot or pressure cooker, however you can if you want to. Here's how.
Instant Pot
The ratio of rice to water should be 1:1.25 (1 cup rice to 1 ¼ cups water). Use sauté mode and follow the instructions for the initial steps. Once you add the water and salt, cover with the lid and use the Manual function to cook for 4 minutes. Then release the pressure naturally for 8 minutes and then Quick Release the remaining pressure. Fluff and serve.
Pressure Cooker
The ratio of rice to water should be 1:1.5 (1 cup rice to 1 ½ cups water). Follow the steps in the recipe, and then after adding the water and salt seal the lid. Cook over medium heat for two whistles. Remove from the heat and let the pressure release naturally. Fluff and serve.
Other recipes you may like
- Chicken Saag (Indian Chicken and Spinach Curry)
- Chicken Vindaloo (Goan-style Hot and Sour Chicken)
- Murgh Makhani (Indian Butter Chicken)
- Indian Chicken Korma
- Murgh Masala (Chicken Masala)
- Punjabi Dal Makhani
Tried this recipe? Please leave a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page. You can also follow me on social media on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest!
Jeera Rice (Indian Cumin Rice)
Ingredients
- 1 cup dry basmati rice
- 1 tablespoon ghee, butter, or vegetable oil
- 5 whole cloves
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 2 cups water
- 1 to 2 teaspoons kosher salt (use 1 teaspoon for Morton’s or 2 teaspoons for Diamond Crystal)
Instructions
- Rinse the rice a few times with fresh tap water. Place the rinsed rice in a bowl and cover by at least 1-inch with water. Let it soak for about 30 minutes, then drain and set aside.
- In a medium pot with a tight-fitting lid (one without a vent or hole in it), heat the ghee, butter or oil over medium heat. Add the spices and lightly toast them for a few seconds until the cumin seeds start to sputter. Beware that cumin seeds can go from toasted to burnt very fast so keep a close eye on your spices!
- Immediately add the drained rice, stirring to coat with the fat in the pan. Continue to toast the rice, stirring regularly, for about a minute.
- Add the 2 cups of water and the salt and stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a boil and then immediately lower the heat to low and cover the pan. Allow the rice to gently cook for about 8 to 10 minutes (it cooks faster with soaked rice) or until all the water has evaporated and the rice is cooked through.
- Remove from the heat, place a paper towel beneath the lid (this prevents condensation from dripping back onto the finished rice) and cover with the lid again. Let it rest, off the heat, for 10 minutes.
- Remove the lid, fluff with a fork and serve. Diners can discard the bay leaf, cinnamon stick and whole cloves, or you could remove them before serving, but they add a bit of authenticity when you serve the rice with the spices still inside.
Notes
- This recipe uses white basmati rice, which is a specific type of long grain rice. I have not tested this recipe with brown basmati rice, but if you want to try it a good rule of thumb is for each cup of rice to increase the water by ¼ cup and also increase the cooking time by about 50%.
- Soaking the rice is an important step to achieve fluffy rice with distinct, separated grains. It also helps the rice cook faster. If you skip the soaking step, be prepared to cook your jeera rice longer than indicated.
- This recipe is so simple and cooks quite fast that I genuinely don't think it's worth making it in an instant pot or pressure cooker, however you can if you want to. Here's how.
- Instant Pot: The ratio of rice to water should be 1:1.25 (1 cup rice to 1 ¼ cups water). Use sauté mode and follow the instructions for the initial steps. Once you add the water and salt, cover with the lid and use the Manual function to cook for 4 minutes. Then release the pressure naturally for 8 minutes and then Quick Release the remaining pressure. Fluff and serve.
- Pressure Cooker: The ratio of rice to water should be 1:1.5 (1 cup rice to 1 ½ cups water). Follow the steps in the recipe, and then after adding the water and salt seal the lid. Cook over medium heat for two whistles. Remove from the heat and let the pressure release naturally. Fluff and serve.
Nutrition
*All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.*
Mary
Light and very flavorful. And also very easy to make.