This Parsi Brown Rice is a flavorful rice dish made with basmati rice, whole spices, sugar and onions. It is fragrant and perfectly golden with a faint sweet tinge of the caramelized onions in it.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 5 minutes
  • Cook time: 15 minutes
  • Total time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: 3
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: Parsi

Ingredients

  • 1 cup basmati rice
  • 1 inch cinnamon
  • 2 to 3 cloves
  • 2 to 3 green cardamoms
  • 2 to 3 black peppercorns
  • ½ cup thinly sliced onions (or 1 medium-sized onion)
  • ½ to 1 teaspoon sugar (or ½ to 1 teaspoon raw sugar)
  • 2 tablespoons ghee (or oil)
  • 1.5 to 2 cups water (or as needed)
  • salt (as required)

Method

  1. Soak the basmati rice in enough water for 20 to 30 minutes. After 20 to 30 minutes, drain the water from the soaked rice. Set the rice aside.
  2. Heat oil or ghee in a thick bottomed pot. Add the cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and black pepper. You can also add 1 tej patta. Fry the whole spices on a low heat till they get fragrant.
  3. Add the sliced onions. Stir and fry the onions till they get translucent and are softened.
  4. Now add sugar and stir. Continue frying the onions till they caramelize or get browned.
  5. The sugar will also caramelize. Keep on stirring in between to ensure even browning.
  6. When the onions have got browned, quickly remove some onions for garnishing. They will have sweet taste and will be a little sticky due to the caramelization of sugar.
  7. Add the rice and gently stir. Pour 1.5 to 2 cups water or as required. Add salt and stir.
  8. Cover tightly and let the rice cook till done and all the water is absorbed.
  9. Check once or twice when the rice is cooking.
  10. If the water is all absorbed and the rice is not cooked completely, then add a few tablespoons of hot water.
  11. Don't stir as you don't want to break the rice grains. Cover and cook the rice for 2 to 3 minutes more.
  12. Serve Parsi Brown Rice garnished with the fried onions with dhansak, patio or dal.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.