How do you cook fluffy rice?

[Mendi]

No matter how I try, rice is the thing that defeats me in the kitchen. I have tried cooking it the Ken Hom way (measure volume of rice and water, cook till water gone, put lid on pan and attach layer of rice to bottom of pan "steam" on v low heat). I've tried rinsing rice many times before cooking and then cooking in lots of water and draining at end. Results in wet sludge. I've tried Ottolenghi way of soaking rice first.

It all results in sludge and/or a ruined pan. My best friend (Indian) says get a rice cooker, but I don't have the space.

So what is your secret to fluffy rice? Am making a curry tonight and am determined to have nice rice (without resorting to the takeaway)...

I use basmati, which needs a little less water than most.

Wash thoroughly with a squeeze of lemon juice, add water, salt and a dash of olive oil. Bring to the boil, stir, cover pot with foil then lid and TURN OFF HEAT.
Return after 20 mins and stir gently but thoroughly with a fork. Taste a few grains. If it's too hard and dry, add a few spoonfuls of boiling water, stir and cover for a further 10 minutes. If it's cooked and too wet, remove foil and set lid slightly open to allow steam to escape.

Tupperware microwave rice cooker. Just a plastic bowl with two lids so takes up next to no space. Good rice every time.
2:1 water to rice. I swear by it (but I did win it in a rafffle so I didn't have to endure a Tupperware party to get it!).

I follow Nigel Slater... 3:1 rice and water, boil for 10 mins then turn off the heat but cover the pot firmly. Leave for another 10 mins. Always perfect.

Of course that should be 1:3 rice and water, i.e. 1 measure of rice to 3 measures of water. Not the other way round...

During the cooking process, leave it well alone. Don't keep stirring and fiddling as it realises more starch making the rice sticky/stodgy.

I never have problems in cooking rice. It comes out fluffy, but like you, I too have a stuck layer of rice lining the bottom of the pan. I think it's normal and to be expected.

My Chinese MIL has a stuck layer of rice in her pans too when she cooks hers at home and in the large pots in her takeaway business as well. Just to put it in context.

Keep trying OP! Oh, and remember 'soaking' your pot is your best friend.

Some varied techniques here! marriednotdead, do you measure the rice:water ratio? If so is it a 1:2 or a 1:3 ratio?

Tonight I will try rinsing then pre-soaking the rice, then a 1:3 ratio and report back.

I too have tried all these kind of methods, as well as a plastic microwave rice cooker. All result in sludge.

So, my foolproof method is to cook rice in a large amount of salted water. 10 minutes for basmati, 15 for long grain. Add rice to boiling water and start the clock then. Then drain, rinse (in sieve) with lots of cold water, then pour boiling water through to warm it up, return sieve to pan over heat for a few minutes, so rice warms up in steam.

As I write this, it seems loads of faff, which is why I wish some of the absorption methods worked for me, but they never do :(

This all sounds so complicated!

I boil basmati until its cooked then drain. It takes less than 10 mins.

I might chuck some hot water over it then if I'm not using it straight away.

I'm genuinley baffled as to why it fails for you! I'd love to hover over you as you cook to see where the problem may lie.

I know that ain't helpful!

I don't measure any more, sorry! I do it by eye but have been cooking it for years now.

Hope yours works out nicely