What colour is your Rice?

Rice is the most grown crop in east and south India and is its staple food. In a few other places in India, like Gujarat and Maharashtra, rice is consumed along with roti. The well polished white rice is the chief contributor of starch in these cuisines. Pleasing to the eye and to the palette, the fluffy white rice is what many Indians in the last few generations have been raised on. White rice is so popular that many of us do not know its original form. Rice, in its original form, is covered in a husk. After the husk is removed by the process called hulling, the grain of rice has a layer of mineral & fibre called bran - this form of rice is called br own rice. This whole grain brown rice takes longer to cook, is harder to chew and has its own distinctive taste and flavour. When the layer of bran is also removed from the grain of rice and polished through the process called milling, we get white rice. White rice is almost completely bland and therefore lends itself to be used in myriad ways, making it the principal component of food in many cultures across the country.

In India, rice is mainly available as raw rice or boiled rice. Boiled rice is rice that has been boiled with the husk and is nutritionally superior to white rice. This is because boiling transfers some of the nutrients in the husk to the grain. Some cultures do consume boiled rice on a regular basis. Boiled rice is closer in nutritional profile to brown rice which is the gold standard in the nutritional value of rice. Natives of Kerala consume a red variety of rice called 'matta' rice which is also nutritionally superior to the white rice. Rice can also be long grained or short grained. Long grained rice is less starchy than short grained rice. For people who are looking at cutting their carb intake, the long grained varieties are preferable. Basmati rice, which is long grained, is flavourful but prohibitively expensive for consumption on a regular basis for the majority of Indian households. It is available in both white and brown versions.