Perfect Basmati Rice in Instant Pot

If you want to learn to make Basmati Rice in the Instant Pot or if you struggled with over-cooked/under-cooked rice grains before and want to learn to make them perfect, you’re at the right spot, my friend. I am a Sri Lankan. I make rice every single day. Sometimes for all three meals. So, trust me when I say, I can make rice with blindfolds. I got you covered!

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Instant Pot for Basmati Rice

Instant Pot is perfect for making Basmati Rice (any rice tbh). I have a 6-qt Instant Pot, and it’s perfect for making 1 – 4 cups of uncooked rice. (1 cup of uncooked rice yields 2.5 cups of cooked rice). All you have to do is wash rice, add the right amount of water, and use the rice preset to cook rice. Easy as that.

However, I do not recommend the 6-qt Instant Pot for making less than 1 cup of uncooked rice or more than 4 cups of uncooked rice. This large Instant Pot is too big to make less than 1 cup of rice. You won’t be able to add enough water to build the pressure.

Technically, you can make more than 4 cups of rice in the Instant Pot, but the problem is that the texture doesn’t come out right. Usually, the rice on the top comes out perfect while the rice on the bottom ends up too mushy even when you use the right amount of water.

So keep this in mind when you make rice in the Instant Pot.

Water Ratio for Basmati Rice

Instant Pot is a type of electric pressure cooker, where you cook food at a higher pressure in a sealed environment. So unlike in other methods, such as cooking in a rice cooker or on the stove-top, the water loss is very minimal. It’s very important that you add the perfect amount of water; otherwise, your Instant Pot can easily turn basmati rice grains into a soup. Or worse, undercook rice with a burnt bottom.

The ratio I use is 1 cup of washed rice: 1 cup of water. I say washed rice for a reason. When you wash the rice, it absorbs water and starts to plump up. Also, when you drain, it always leaves some water in the pot. This ratio works perfectly well if you need that perfect restaurant-quality basmati rice in your Instant Pot. You can use this rice to make fried rice, too, since the shape holds pretty well.

If you use rice without washing for some reason, or you want softer rice, use the ratio of 1 cup of rice : 1.25 cups of water.

Why Wash Basmati Rice?

Mainly, it helps to get rid of the extra starch that coats the grains. When you cook the rice without washing, that starch becomes gummy and makes the rice grains stick together. So it’s very important that you wash basmati rice in order to get it fluffy and nice.

The other reason is, while you wash the rice, the rice grains soak up some water. This helps to cook the rice grains evenly. Especially if you are following the recipe I have given you here, make sure you wash the rice.

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Print Recipe

Perfect Basmati Rice in Instant Pot

Author: Roshani Wickramasinghe Cooking Method: instant pot Cuisine: Famous Across multiple cuisines, Indian, Middle Eastern, Sri Lankan Courses: Dinner, Lunch Recipe Keys: Dairy Free Gluten Free L low fodmap Quick Meals Vegan Vegetarian Meals

Difficulty: Beginner Prep Time 5 mins Cook Time 15 mins Total Time 20 mins

Servings: 4

Description

I'm Sri Lankan, and I make Basmati Rice in my Instant Pot all the time, and it's always perfect. Let me teach you how I do it!

Ingredients

Servings

• 2 cup Basmati Rice

• ¹⁄₂ tsp Salt

• 2 cup Water

Instructions

1. Add rice to the removable inner pot of your Instant Pot. Rinse the rice very well for three times until the water runs less cloudy and somewhat clear. (Washing rice too much can break the grains. 3 times is enough, even if the water is still a little cloudy.)

   

2. Drain water. You don't have to drain all the water. It's okay to leave about 1 - 2 tbsp of water in the pot. 

   

3. Add the measured water. (for 1 cup of washed rice: 1 cup of water) Also, add salt. 

   
   optional: You can also a little bit of oil or butter. This makes the rice grains even less sticky and shiny.

4. Wipe the outside of the pot for extra water and place it back in the Instant Pot. Close the lid. Make sure the knob is in the sealing position. Press the 'Rice' preset and then press 'Start'. 

   
   If you don't have a rice preset, cook for 12 minutes at 'low pressure'.

5. Once the rice is done (the instant pot makes 10 beeps and automatically switches to 'warm' setting), turn it completely OFF.  Leaving the 'warm' function ON, dries out the rice.   Let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes or until the pressure knob naturally goes down.

   

6. Then fluff the rice with a spoon and serve warm.

   

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