Parboiled Rice

Monday, September 7, 2009

Rice is a staple food for a lot of vegetarians.  It is a really good source of complex carbohydrates and to a lesser extent, a source of protein.  Combining rice with pulses will ensure that one gets an adequate amount of protein.

When one wants to incorporate rice into their diet, the options and varieties are mind boggling.  Do you go with white rice, brown rice, wild rice, parboiled rice?  Which specific named rice variety like basmati, jasmine, arborio, bhutanese red rice do you buy?  Each variety of rice has its own unique taste and characteristics.

I am a big fan of parboiled rice.  It tastes a lot better than the raw white rice. Parboiled rice is rice that has been boiled in the husk.  Parboiling the rice preserves most of the nutrients and is almost comparable to brown rice in that regard.

As far as a specific variety of rice is concerned, I  highly recommend the Ponni rice which originates from the state of Tamil Nadu in India, for its taste