The Ultimate Guide to Using a Rice Cooker

Biryani. Pulao. Khichdi. Lemon rice. Hearing the names of these rice dishes makes our mouths start watering. Our Indian cuisine incorporates rice in most of its dishes. Since rice is cooked almost every day in Indian homes, using a rice cooker is a much better way to save time and still end up with perfect and fluffy rice every time. 

Why use a rice cooker?

An electric rice cooker saves you the trouble of remembering when to increase or decrease the heat on the gas stove, setting a timer to avoid mushy rice and paying attention to avoid any spilling. Think of it as an automatic pressure cooker for rice. It consists of a large cooking pot, a safety lid and a few sets of controls to monitor the settings of the automatic rice cooker. 

When we cook rice on a stovetop, it never turns out the same way consistently. It could be mushy, dry, sticky etc. However, using a rice cooker is a sure-shot way to have fluffy rice every single time. And what’s better? With Crompton’s electric rice cooker, it will be ready in just 15 minutes. You will surely have a smooth cooking experience as our rice cooker is equipped with a premium non-stick food grade coating which prevents the rice from sticking to the pot and allows you to clean your pot easily. 

Unlike most rice cookers, our electric rice cooker is not made with anodized aluminium pots. Our food grade coating makes it a much safer option for cooking. To use the cooker easily, we also provide a free spatula, trivet and a measuring cup. Crompton’s Harvest Pro rice cooker comes with an additional bowl as well!

If you want to know how simple it is to use a rice cooker and still end up with perfect rice, here are a few straightforward steps you need to follow:

Steps to use a rice cooker correctly 

Step 1: Ratio

The secret to cooking perfect rice is all about the measurement. Once you crack the perfect water-to-rice ratio, you will never have to stress about the texture of your rice again. Read the rice package carefully for any instructions, most of them will show you the correct ratio. Each type of rice whether it is brown, white or black requires different ratios.

Step 2: Rinse

According to the rice type, you will have to rinse the rice thoroughly before cooking. The white rice that we cook regularly, needs to be washed to remove the starch. Starch is the enemy that makes your rice sticky and mushy. You don’t want that. Measure your rice and put it into a bowl. Fill the bowl with water and let it soak for a while. Once you notice the water starting to become white, drain the bowl and rinse the rice a few times. 

Step 3: Combine the water and rice in the rice maker

Once your rice is ready, you can combine the water and rice into the bowl of your electric rice cooker. Add any extra ingredients like salt, oil, spices etc. 

Step 4: Cook 

After this, tightly secure the bowl with a lid and turn on the rice maker. You will see that the appliance will start to heat up. A rice cooker is much faster at cooking than the stovetop and your rice will be ready in no more than 15 minutes. 

Step 5: Serve

Depending on how crunched you are for time, you can either wait for the rice to soak up any moisture for 10 minutes or serve the rice up immediately after it has finished cooking. 

Buying a small electric rice cooker is a smart investment for your household if you eat rice regularly. Whether you are crunched for time, cooking for a large group or cooking multiple meals alongside, a rice cooker makes your cooking experience in the kitchen much easier. You don’t need to babysit your rice utensil anymore, just put the rice in the bowl, and the automatic rice cooker will switch off when the timer is done. A bonus tip, a rice maker acts like an instant pot, and you can make a variety of dishes with it, not only rice!