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Category: Recipes

How to Cook Basmati Rice in a Rice Cooker?

If you love to have cooked Basmati rice with chicken, mutton or any type of curry, then you must know how satisfying is to have this rice. This full-flavored aromatic rice is mostly used in Biryani, Pilaf or as a side dish. However, if you love Basmati rice and have a rice cooker in your kitchen, then you must know how to cook Basmati rice in a rice cooker.

Why? Because it’s easier to cook Basmati rice in a rice cooker than a traditional stovetop. You don’t need to monitor while cooking the rice in the rice cooker.

How to Cook Basmati Rice in a Rice Cooker?

This is a simple 3 steps formula that anyone can follow to cook Basmati rice in a rice cooker.

1st Step: Add rice, water and other flavorings (optional but recommended) to the rice cooker pot.

2nd Step: Turn on the rice cooker and set the timer (If your rice cooker doesn’t go to the Keep Warm mode automatically.

3rd Step: Let chill the cooked rice for 10 minutes.

Look at these steps, it’s really easy to follow to cook the rice in a rice cooker. Well, before going to the detailed (written and video) recipe, you may love to check some random facts about Basmati rice and the cooking process. This will help you to become a pro cooker and everyone will be surprised to see your perfectly cooked Basmati rice.

Facts about Basmati Rice You Should Know

What is Basmati Rice?

Basmati rice is a type of long-grain white rice, mostly cultivated in India, Pakistan and some other Asian countries. According to Wikipedia, more than 60% of the world’s Basmati rice trade by India and the rest of the others trade by Pakistan. However, this is healthy rice and another version of Basmati rice is also available in the market named Brown Basmati Rice.

Basmati Rice to Water Ratio

Well, the ratio of water greatly depends on the type of rice you want to cook. Mostly, two types of Basmati rice are available in the market, one is aged Basmati rice and another is newly harvested Basmati rice.

For aged Basmati rice, the standard water ratio is 1:2. That means you will need 2 cups of water to cook 1 cup of Basmati rice. And for newly harvested Basmati rice, you will need 1 and ¾ cups of water to cook 1 cup of rice.

Basmati rice to water ratio

Well, another important fact for aged Basmati rice is, if you soak the rice in the water for 30 minutes, then 1:2 is the perfect ratio for Indian and Pakistani aged Basmati rice. But if you don’t want to soak the rice before cook, or even don’t want to rinse the rice, then it may take a little bit more water to cook perfectly.

How Long to Cook Basmati Rice?

Basmati rice cooking time depends on several facts like the type of rice, amount of rice, power of your rice cooker, etc.

In general, it will take 20 minutes to cook 2 cups of Basmati rice in a rice cooker.

And if your rice cooker comes with Keep Warm mode function, then you don’t need to worry about cooking time. Because once the rice will be cooked, the rice cooker will go to the Keep Warm mode automatically.

Basmati rice in rice cooker

Fortunately, my Panasonic Rice Cooker comes with the function. So I don’t need to worry about cooking time and I can watch a movie, have a cup of coffee or play with my kids after just Turning on the rice cooker.

How to Cook Brown Basmati Rice in Rice Cooker?

The process of cooking Brown Basmati rice in the rice cooker is the same as white Basmati rice. But you only need to change the ratio of water. For aged Brown Basmati rice from India or Pakistan, you will need 2.5 cups of water to cook 1 cup of Brown Basmati rice. And for newly harvested Brown Basmati rice, the ratio will be 1:2.

How to Cook Indian Basmati Rice?

As said before, more than 60% of the world’s Basmati rice trade by India, so this post “How to cook Basmati rice in a rice cooker” mainly focused on Indian Basmati rice. So follow this post’s instruction to coon Indian Basmati rice.

Rice cooker cooked Basmati Rice

How to Store Cooked Basmati Rice?

Place the cooked Basmati rice in an airtight container and store the container in the refrigerator. But keep in mind that, properly stored cooked Basmati rice will last in the refrigerator for 4-6 days.

How to Reheat Basmati Rice?

To reheat cooked Basmati rice in a rice cooker, sprinkle a little water on the top of the rice and “Keep Warm” mode for 5-10 minutes depending on the amount of rice.

To reheat cooked Basmati rice in the Microwave Oven, sprinkle a little water on the top of the rice and Microwave for 2-5 minutes. (Microwave time depends on the amount of rice)

Do You Need to Rinse Basmati Rice?

The answer is both Yes and NO!

Well, personally I always rinse (wash) Basmati rice before cooking. And sometimes I also soak them in the water for 15-30 minutes before cooking. It helps to make the rice fluffy.

However, if you don’t want, you don’t need to rinse the rice before cook. But washing aged Basmati rice is greatly recommended because they are starchy.

What Brand of Rice Cooker is Best for Cooking Basmati Rice?

I’m using a Panasonic Rice Cooker in my kitchen that is an open-lid type and has 730W power. And I always cook perfect Basmati rice using my rice cooker. So you can also use a rice cooker from this brand. However, you can also use a rice cooker from other renowned brands like Aroma Rice Cooker, Zojirushi, Hamilton Beach, Cuisinart, Tiger, etc.

Tips to Cook Fluffy Basmati Rice in the Rice Cooker

Here are some few tips you can follow to cook Fluffy Basmati rice in the rice cooker.

How to Make Scrambled Eggs in Rice Cooker?

Scrambled egg is one of the most common egg dishes for breakfast. Some people also love to have it as a side dish with a different food for lunch or dinner. However, after boiling eggs in my rice cooker, I have tried to make scrambled eggs. And this comes out almost perfectly as I want. So here I’m going to share how to make scrambled eggs in rice cooker.

Making Scrambled Eggs in Rice Cooker

So most of the kitchens have a rice cooker and generally, we cook rice in the rice cooker. But do you know, you can make a lot of different dishes in your rice cooker besides cooking rice. And this rice cooker scrambled eggs recipe is one of them.

Cooking scrambled eggs in a rice cooker

However, to make basic scrambled eggs in a rice cooker, you will need eggs, oil and seasoning. As for seasoning, I only use salt and crushed black pepper in the scrambled eggs. But you can use any seasoning you love to have with scrambled eggs.

Here I have also used oil, but you can use butter instead of oil.

Another ingredient I have used is water. Yes, I believe using a little water (1 tsp for 2 eggs) will make the scrambled eggs fluffy. So you can also use the water or avoid it.

Can you make scrambled eggs in a rice cooker

Cooking time will depend on your rice cooker power and the number of eggs you want to cook. Anyway, my 730W Panasonic Rice Cooker takes almost 3 minutes (2 minutes cooking, 1 minute keep warm mode) to make this fluffy scrambled eggs recipe and I have used 2 eggs here.

Final Words

A rice cooker is not the best idea to make scrambled eggs. But sometimes we may have no option in our home besides a rice cooker to make breakfast or dinner. And this rice cooker scrambled eggs recipe is only for them. Otherwise, if you love to make experiments with your rice cooker, or a big fan of scrambled eggs, then you can also try.

Because now you know the process of how to make scrambled eggs in rice cooker. And don’t forget to share your experience of making scrambled eggs in the rice cooker with us. Comment below and let us know, or share mention us @cookwareninja or #cookwareninja while sharing your experience on social media.

Different Types of Salad Bowls Available in the Market

If you love to mix and serve green salad regularly, you’ll definitely find it handy to use a salad bowl. A salad bowl is shallow on the sides and large and round compared to other types of bowls.

Since salad bowls are made for holding salad ingredients they don’t have much depth as that of other kinds of bowls. It’ll make your life much simpler and easier as it’s often multipurpose.

Moreover, it might even inspire you to eat fruits and vegetables on a daily basis and lead a healthy life. However, there’re various types of salad bowls available in all shapes and sizes but the main difference is in the materials they’re made of.

In this post, I’d like to share different types of salad bowls along with details of their materials. Let’s check the post thoroughly so that you make the right choice. Keep scrolling to get more.

Types of Salad Bowls Available in the Market

One of the most important things that you must consider while choosing a salad bowl is its material. Wooden bowls are widely popular as are stainless steel, ceramic, glass, and melamine. Before you choose a salad bowl for your kitchen, consider the different ways you want to use it.

However, there’s a complete list of different types of salad bowls just below. Let’s check the list out so that you can get your required one easily.

Wooden Salad Bowl

Wooden Salad Bowl

Natural materials such as wood can bring a warm and beautiful element to your salad bowls. They are eco-friendly and also have no side effects expected even after long time use. Wooden bowls can either be hand finished or pre-finished. Pre-finished means it already has a varnish applied to it that makes it waterproof and more attractive to look at.

To hand finish your wooden bowl, all you need to do is to apply seasoning oils, walnut, or mineral oil. It would be good to rub beeswax onto the wood along with mineral or walnut oil to make the bowl more durable. This will prevent your wooden bowl from any kind of unexpected cracking since some parts may dry without any oil.

Hand-Finished wooden salad bowls come with a cozy and earthy touch. However, it could look nice and pleasant if you can match it with the right utensils and proper table preparation.

Bamboo Salad Bowls

Bamboo Salad Bowls

Bamboo salad bowls have proven to be remarkably popular all over the world in the last few years. Nowadays people are becoming more ecologically conscious all along with global warming at the lead of public consciousness.

The most noticeable thing is that you can now buy disposable bamboo plates and dishes also. They’re completely biodegradable as well as eco-friendly which means they’ll not harm the environment in any way.

The bamboo salad bowls that you can buy are not something that you need to dispose of them after just you use them for once. You can reuse your bamboo salad bowls many times if you are willing to clean them by hand. They are great for mixing and serving salad and will look amazing on your dining table.

Glass Salad Bowl

Glass Salad Bowl

The most common salad bowls that anyone prefers to use for mixing and serving salad is the glass salad bowl. Using glass salad bowls will be a great idea if you want the salad to be seen through the bowl. Because of this material, you can easily spot out if the ingredients have been tossed completely.

Moreover, you can also put this type of salad bowl in the refrigerators to keep your ingredients cold and fresh for longer.  There’s nothing to worry about the color and taste of your salad being affected when you’re using a glass bowl.

However, the only problem with glass bowls is that they can easily break or crack when dropped on the floor.

Ceramic Salad Bowl

Ceramic Salad Bowl

Ceramic salad bowls are also widely popular across the world because of their warm and attractive look. While they are not indestructible but definitely a little bit more durable than your regular glass bowl. A really nice ceramic salad bowl can be very visually appealing on your dining table with its distinct look.

These salad bowls are excellent because they are just so convenient in every situation. In spite of mixing salad, you can use these bowls as serving bowls as well. Moreover, you can also use your ceramic salad bowls to decorate your kitchen as they really are very pretty.

However, ceramic bowls are also can break or crack easily like glass when dropped on any hard surface. So, you need to be careful while cleaning or storing your ceramic salad bowls.

Melamine Salad Bowl

Melamine Salad Bowl

If you’re looking for a salad bowl that can be used for everyday life as well as easy to clean, then you can go with melamine. This kind of salad bowls is made with strengthening materials to prevent them from unexpected cracking or breaking.

Even though there were concerns in the previous over the safety of melamine dishes, the FDA has declared this material safe to use. Moreover, there’re no harmful chemicals in the melamine bowls that can harm your health means you can use them without any fear.

Moreover, melamine bowls can be washed in the dishwasher without any fear of breaking or cracking. These bowls are extremely durable and will not shatter if dropped or used with very cold food.

Porcelain Salad Bowl

Porcelain Salad Bowl

One of the main benefits of using porcelain salad bowls is that they’re really lovely to look at. You can purchase these salad bowls in various colors, designs, styles, and sizes according to your taste and requirement.

Since these bowls are usually heavier than the other types of salad bowls, they’ll not move around on the countertop while you’re using them. Unfortunately, porcelain is very prone to chipping and cracking and it is very easy to damage accidentally.

So you must pay enough care and attention while using these bowls in order to keep them safe.

Acrylic Salad Bowl

Acrylic Salad Bowl

The Acrylic salad bowl is as sturdy as it is pretty and beautiful. This kind of salad bowl offers great balance because of its stable structure. Since these bowls are made of high-quality material and are BPA-free, they’re safe to use for regular life.

The clear and elegant design of these beautiful bowls will match amazingly the rest décor of your kitchen. Moreover, high-quality Acrylic salad bowls are break-resistant as well as shatterproof that makes them convenient to use.

However, some low-grade Acrylic salad bowls are prone to scratching and cracking so it’s recommended to handle the bowl with care while using.

Plastic Salad Bowl

Plastic Salad Bowl

This is probably the least expensive salad bowls available in the market. Compared to other types of salad bowls like glass or ceramic, plastic tends to be last for longer for obvious reasons. These salad bowls are effectively indestructible, making them the choice for a picnic or outdoor parties.

Moreover, plastic salad bowls come in different colors, sizes, and shapes so you can choose a bowl that’ll match your table preparations. The main disadvantage of plastic salad bowls is that you cannot leave them on a too hot surface like a stove or an oven.

Lighter plastic salad bowls, in particular, are also prone to retaining odors and stains as well. That’s why it’s always recommended to choose high-quality plastic salad bowls while buying.

Stainless Steel Salad Bowl

Stainless Steel Salad Bowl

Stainless steel is probably the least common material for salad bowls. However, that doesn’t mean it is less durable or attractive than other types of salad bowls available in the market.

Some people prefer to serve their salad on a glass, wood, or plastic bowl than stainless steel material. Stainless steel salad bowls are sturdy, lightweight, and also do not cheap easily.

Moreover, this type of salad bowl doesn’t retain the smells or flavor of previous ingredients, unlike plastic. These bowls can also be used for multipurpose rather than a salad bowl in your kitchen.

Last Words

In conclusion, salads are definitely a great way to stay healthy and raise your intake of veggies and fruits. Having the right bowl to prepare your favorite salads will help you to get creative and make the most of your tasty ingredients.

However, while choosing salad bowls for your kitchen, you should also consider the number of people you’re going to serve. This will help you to find out the right salad bowl of appropriate size.

You can also choose a salad bowl that matches the other utensils and dinnerware that you already own.

How to Make Chicken Biryani in Rice Cooker

Making chicken biryani in rice cooker is not a big deal especially if you have previous experience of cooking biryani. But what if you have zero knowledge about cooking biryani?

Well, this rice cooker chicken biryani is one of the easiest electric rice cooker chicken biryani recipes. So anyone with zero knowledge can make biryani following this simple chicken biryani recipe.

Chicken Biryani in Rice Cooker

Biryani is one of the most popular and royal Indian sub-continental dishes. People love to have biryani on special occasions or even on a holiday.

But preparing biryani on the stovetop is a little bit tricky and you must have some knowledge or experience. So that’s why I’m going to show you how to make chicken biryani in rice cooker without having zero knowledge or experience.

Chicken Biryani in Rice Cooker, Is It Practical?

Yes, it’s practical and can be made easily using different types of rice cookers.

When I search on the web for rice cooker chicken biryani recipes, I have found most of the recipes use both stovetop and rice cooker. They used a stovetop to cook chicken and rice cooker to cook rice as well as making the biryani.

But assume you are in a situation where you have no access to any stovetop except a rice cooker. Like in the college dorm, no electric or gas supply in the home kitchen or travel with a portable/mini rice cooker. And considering the above situation, I have only used my rice cooker to make this chicken biryani recipe.

So How Actually It can be made?

In the first step, you need to marinate the chicken using curd/yogurt and other essential spices and ingredients. Then wash the rice and soak for 30 minutes.

Here I have used long-grain Basmati rice (Indian). But you can use any type of long or short-grain white rice. And depending on the rice, the amount of water and cooking time will vary.

However, in the second step, you need to cook the marinated chicken. For this, you can use any type of cooking oil or clarified butter (ghee).

The cooking time of the chicken will depend on the type of chicken and the power/capacity/type of the rice cooker. I’ve used my Panasonic 730W Rice Cooker and it takes almost 30 minutes to cook the chicken.

Cooking chicken for biryani

Remember that, if you are using a close-lid type rice cooker, you may face obstruction to cook the chicken.

Because most of the modern electric rice cooker comes with advance safety feature and they stopped working automatically when it’s get heated too much. So double check your rice cooker features and functions before start cooking.

Well, in the 3rd step, you need to add the soaked rice and enough water to make the biryani.

But you can also follow a different way to finish the cooking that I’m followed while cooking beef and mutton biryani in the rice cooker.

And the different way is, you can remove the cooked chicken from the rice cooker. And then boil the biryani rice and also remove the rice.

After that, just layer both cooked chicken and boiled rice in the rice cooker, add other ingredients like clarified butter, coriander leaves, etc. whatever you want to add in your biryani to make it flavorful.

Rice cooker chicken biryani

And finally, cook the biryani for few minutes and keep it in the “Warm Mode” for few minutes. This is also one of the most effective methods for me to make perfect biryani in my rice cooker.

How to Make Rice Cooker Chicken Rice?

Rice cooker chicken rice also known as Hainanese Chicken Rice is one of the most popular rice dishes in Singapore and Malaysia.

The traditional Hainanese Chicken Rice is made on the stovetop, but using a rice cooker can make the job easy.

Also, the taste of the dish is outstanding and perfect for both lunch and diner. If you have a rice cooker in your kitchen, then you can make this rice dish within 35-40 minutes.

Rice Cooker Chicken Rice

So How Rice Cooker Chicken Rice is made?

If you want to follow the traditional Hainanese chicken rice recipe, you can use different ingredients.

But to make the recipe simple and quick, I have used fewer ingredients. And the two main ingredients are rice and chicken that are a must for the recipe.

However, for this rice cooker chicken rice recipe, I have used two chicken legs, 1 cup of rice, spring onion, sesame oil, ginger, garlic and some other ingredients.

You can use any portion of the chicken (with or without skin). But personally, I don’t recommend using chicken breast.

At first, marinate the chicken legs using 1 tsp of sesame oil, salt, white pepper and spring opinion. After that, turn on the rice cooker, add another tsp of sesame oil and fry garlic and ginger for 1-2 minutes. And then add washed and soaked rice and fry for another 2 minutes.

rice cooker chicken rice recipe

You can use any type of short or long-grain rice. Here I have used short grain aromatic rice. You can use Jasmine rice or even Basmati rice. But to get the traditional touch, Jasmine rice is always recommended.

rice cooker chicken and rice

However, after that, add water and marinated chicken. And then cook for about 20 minutes or until your rice cooker goes to the Warm Mode automatically.

The amount of water will depend on the rice that you are using. Using the right ratio of water is important, otherwise, your rice will remain uncooked or overcooked/sticky.

Cooked Chicken and Rice in the rice cooker

If you want to make the process even faster, you can add all ingredients together to the rice cooker pot and turn on the rice cooker to start cooking.

But to make the rice and chicken flavorful, I like to marinate the chicken first and then fry the garlic and ginger in the sesame oil before adding rice.

How to Make Rice Cooker Banana Bread?

After making different dishes I want to bake some cake and bread in my rice cooker. I want to see how effective a rice cooker is for baking. And in my little experience, you can bake some basic bread and cake in the rice cooker. If you can follow the proper cooking time, you will get an amazing baking experience with a rice cooker, however, today I’m going to make rice cooker banana bread.

Rice Cooker Banana Bread Recipe

This is my 1st attempt of baking in my rice cooker. So I burnt the bottom portion of the bread. But you don’t need to worry, if you follow my instruction below, you will get a perfect rice cooker baked banana bread.

Steps to Make Rice Cooker Banana Bread

This is a basic banana bread that I bake using my rice cooker. So I tried to keep basic and simple ingredients so that everyone can make and taste them.

However, for making the rice cooker banana bread, first, you need to make the bread batter. First, mash the ripe banana in a mixing bowl and then add other ingredients like eggs, melted butter, vanilla essence, sugar and milk.

rice cooker banana bread batter

Mix them well and then add AP Flour, baking powder and baking soda. Mix the batter well but don’t overmix. You can skip the baking soda if don’t like it. However, to make the bread flavorful, you can add sliced/chopped nuts and risings.

After that, grease some oil in the rice cooker pot and add baking paper. (If your rice cooker inner pot is fully nonstick, then you can skip baking paper. But still adding baking paper will release the baked bread easily and also keep the bread safe from burning).

banana bread in rice cooker

Now transfer the batter into the rice cooker pot and then place the rice cooker pot into the rice cooker. Turn on the rice cooker to start baking.

Depending on your rice cooker power and size, you will need to bake for 45-60 minutes. Even you may need less than 45 minutes (roughly 25-30 minutes) if your rice cooker power is good enough to heat up faster and evenly. However, after turning on the rice cooker, it will go to the Keep Warm Mode automatically after 4-5 minutes. So you will need to turn on the rice cooker again. But you will need to follow a cooking cycle.

You may need 2-4 cooking cycles to bake the banana bread. Each cooking cycle contains 3-5 minutes Cook and 12-15 minutes keep Warm Mode. If you follow this cooking cycle, you will get perfectly baked banana bread.