Varieties Of Rice & Their Uses In Our Indian Recipes

By: on October 27th, 2016 in Diet & Nutrition, Healthy Lifestyle, Home Care, Preventive Health

 

THE VARIETIES OF RICE AND THEIR USES IN OUR  INDIAN RECIPE:

Rice is the cheapest stable food. There are varieties of rice used for different preparations of salty, spicy and sweet dishes. The few varieties of rice are mentioned below.

Different Rice Varieties:

  • White Rice: This is milled or polished rice with low vitamins and nutrients. It is a refined starch and refining losses its important nutrients and vitamins. It is easily digestible because of low fiber and is good for gastrointestinal patients like diarrhea, dysentery, colitis and even in morning sickness. It is used to cook paneer biryani, veg or plain biryani, tamarind rice, fried rice, steamed rice, coconut rice, cumin rice, lemon rice, carrot rice with peanuts, different rice puddings, sweet rice, kheer.
  • Red Rice: It is rich in Vit-B-6 and antioxidant anthocyanin having red unhulled or partially hulled husk with a nut like flavour. It helps to maintain our iron level and also regulates blood sugar level and supports DNA production.It is used to prepare khichdi, dosa, idly, payasam, poha and different rice puddings.
  • Sticky Rice: It is sweet rice with opaque grains containing less amylase and is gluten free, becomes sticky after cooking. It makes our connective tissue strong due to the presence of copper and also helps in improving immune system and brain function. The dishes prepared using this rice are puddings, desserts, peanut sticky rice, steamed rice, chicken or fish sticky rice etc.
  • Parboiled Rice: It is partially boiled with husks. The steps of boiling are soaking, steaming and drying which improves its nutritional value and texture. It is rich in calcium, iron, magnesium and potassium. It is a good choice for diabetic. It is used for preparing khichdi, Pongal, idly, sada dosa, moong dal dosa, golden dosa, dokhla, payasam, pulse-rice apple pie and vegetable pulao.
  • Black Rice: It has high nutritive value with fair sources of iron, Vit-E, essential amino acids and antioxidants. It has good anti-inflammatory property. It is used to make poha, creamy rice pudding, black rice salad, desserts, black rice with pumpkin, spicy lentil and black rice soups and also used in stuffings. etc.
  • Jasmine Rice: It is long, white rice with good fragrance which becomes soft and moist after cooking. It is rich in amino acids and relieves from muscular pain. The dishes prepared with this rice are cumin rice, kheer, jasmine rice with vegetables, fried rice, lemon-mint rice, used in soups etc.
  • Basmati Rice: Basmati rice is aromatic rice having long and slender grains with its soft and fluffy nature after cooking aids easier digestion. It is gluten free, low in calories and fat and thus helps in weight loss. Generally basmati rice is used to make biryani, pulao, kheer, jeera rice, yellow rice, tamarind or curd rice, palak rice and different varieties of fried rice.
  • Brown Rice: It is the healthiest variety of whole grain rice with removed hull containing natural fibres and vitamins. It is low in calories and induces metabolism and thus a good recommendation for weight loss plan and reducing blood cholesterol. It is a good exchange of white riceand is used to make pulao, phirni, biryani, khichri, mushroom brown rice, brown rice salad etc.
  • Short grain: It has short and round grains used for puddings like milk-rice pudding, rice pudding with coconut milk, apple rice pudding and stuffing preparations, pumpkin rice, vegetable biryani, milk rice, mushroom rice etc.
  • Golden Rice:It is genetically produced rice to conserve beta carotene, a precursor of Vit-A. The beta carotene is naturally produced in plant leaves by genetically modifying it. It is used for cooking yellow rice, soups, pulao and also used in salads

It cannot be eaten raw and takes a time to cook. It is not digested without thorough cooking and after the break down it converts into sugar and raises our sugar level. Eating extra rice fills up our stomach and increases our weight. It is good for providing instant energy and filling our stomach full for longer hours.