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basmati rice

 
Dictionary: bas·ma·ti rice   (bäs-mä') pronunciation
 
n.

An aromatic long-grain rice from India.

[Hindi bāsmatī, fragrant, from bās, fragrance, perfume, from Sanskrit vāsaḥ.]


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[bahs-MAH-tee] Literally translated as "queen of fragrance," basmati has been grown in the foothills of the Himalayas for thousands of years. Its perfumy, nutlike flavor and aroma can be attributed to the fact that the grain is aged to decrease its moisture content. Basmati is a long-grained rice with a fine texture. It can be found in Indian and Middle Eastern markets and some supermarkets.

 
Wikipedia: Basmati
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Brown basmati rice
Chinese dish cooked in basmati

Basmati (Hindi: बासमती, Kannada: ಭಾಸ್ಮತಿ, Urdu: باسمتی, Telugu: బాస్మతి, Bengali: বাসমতী) is a variety of long grain rice, grown in India and Pakistan notable for its fragrance and delicate, nuanced flavour. Its name means "the fragrant one" in Sanskrit, but it can also mean "the soft rice." India and Pakistan are the largest cultivators and exporters of this rice; it is primarily grown through paddy field farming in the Punjab region.

The grains of basmati rice are longer than most other types of rice. Cooked grains of Basmati rice are characteristically free flowing rather than sticky, as with most long-grain rice. Cooked basmati rice can be uniquely identified by its fragrance. Basmati rice is available in two varieties - white and brown.

Contents

Flavour

Basmati rice has a typical pandan-like (Pandanus amaryllifolius leaf) flavour caused by the aroma compound 2-acetyl-1-pyrrolineCite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag. Both voluntarily and due to review decisions by the United States Patent Office, RiceTec has lost most of the claims of the patent, including, most importantly, the right to call their rice lines "basmati." This was a huge victory for Indian farmers who could have faced enormous economic losses from the patent.

Glycemic index

According to the Canadian Diabetes Association, basmati rice has a Medium glycemic index (GI) of between 56 and 69, thus making it more suitable for diabetics as compared to certain other grains and products made from white flour.

See also

Footnotes

References

External links

international price of basmati pb 1 pb 1121


 
 

 

Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Food Lover's Companion. Food Lover's Companion. Copyright © 2001 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Basmati" Read more