I cooked perfect rice..

Every new place I go to, I need to befriend the cooking systems there. Being a vegetarian in most parts of the world is quite challenging and here I am in Europe where a vegetarian meal is mostly french fries or mashed potatoes. The best stove for me is ordinary gas operated stove which has visible flame of fire, something that I can see and adjust. The flame on which I can roast papads and puff my phulkas. The hardships to be pally with high tech induction stove in my apartment in Amsterdam is a story in itself and I would elaborate on it sometime later.

Currently I have a hotplate like induction stove. Has a knob like adjustment with range from 1 to 3. At one, there is no heating and at three, it heats too much and too fast. So, all my attention while cooking is on adjusting the knobs. Last five days, I had given myself a task of cooking perfect basmati rice, with each grain separated. Guess what, I could not come even close. I either burnt it, or it remained half-cooked or it became Indonesian sticky rice.Though I studied physics, I forgot the simple fact of life that once food is cooked and the stove is turned off, the induction heat would continue for a while. That is how I burn my food, by keeping the pot on the hotplate after the food is cooked.

This evening, I treated myself with a movie. Eat Pray Love. This is my favorite book. May be because I can relate to it. I was very excited about the movie and what better thing to do on Sunday evening rather than watching a film. It is definitely better than reading ethical theories. Sitting in the movie hall and watching Julia Robers eat great food in Italy, it was no wonder that I came home hungry. At 11pm, best thing to cook is some rice and dal and that is what i did and guess what I used my experience of last five days to avoid the mistakes I have been doing while cooking rice. The proportion of water and rice is now almost perfect, thanks to trial and error method of last five days, the heat adjustment is now almost acheived and I have learned most important lesson that is to turn of the heat five minutes before, so that the rice cooks perfectly while the pot sits on the hotseat and it doesnt get burnt. Viola... I think thats what they say here often.. something that means perfect.. or excellent or fabulous. That was my reaction when I opened the lid of the pot after 10 mins and the perfectly cooked basmati rice was smiling at me and the flavour of it went straight to my brain making me feel all the more hungry..

Now after mastering the art of cooking perfect rice with hot plate, i want to take up the challenge of trying chapatis.. what say guys?