Kuska Rice | Kuska Biryani

Kuska Rice also called Kuska, Khusqa or Khushka, is a straightforward South Indian manner of constructing a flavorful dish, made with basmati rice, ghee and choicest of aromatic spices. Thus, it’s also known as as a Kuska Biryani minus greens and/or meats, as lastly you may have a rice-based dish which is tremendous excessive each on flavors and perfume. Historically, this style laden rice dish is accompanied with a korma or Kurma, curry or gravy.

What’s Kuska Rice

Because the one-pot Kuska Biryani from South India doesn’t use any meat or veggies in its preparations, it’s also typically known as ‘empty biryani’ or ‘MT Biryani‘.

It is usually known as ‘plain biryani‘. Fascinating, isn’t it? Ideally, good high quality basmati rice is a paramount requirement to make this rice.

Subsequent, is the listing of spices that play an integral function in giving the Kuska Rice its true essence. These are cinnamon, inexperienced cardamom, caraway seeds (shahi jeera), cloves, tej patta (Indian bay leaf), mace, and so on.

Nevertheless, the spice listing isn’t just restricted to this. Together with these, there’s onions, ginger, inexperienced chillies, coriander leaves, mint leaves and the likes.

In some eating places you’ll find that in-spite of utilizing a assorted vary of spices, herbs and seasonings, the white colour of the rice is retained within the ultimate preparation. Another reason that provides to the simplicity of this dish, but being large on flavors.

About Kuska Recipe

Kuska Rice is served in lots of eating places and motels in South India. The eating places there, pair it with a facet gravy preparation known as Salna.

Kuska Biryani is an efficient various to the nice previous plain steamed rice, and could be had with gravies like a kurma, spiced sturdy curries, raitas and even with lentils or dal.

Kuska recipe could be made in numerous methods. By way of the rice, for those who don’t have basmati rice and have the best high quality seeraga samba rice which is a brief grain rice selection, be happy to make use of it with none doubt.

The phrase ‘kuska’ has its origin in ‘khushk,’ which is an Urdu phrase that means ‘dry.’ Therefore, that is additionally a dry biryani preparation which doesn’t have any vegetable masala or gravy in it.

There isn’t a layering as nicely on this specific biryani. Nevertheless, like a traditional Biryani, this rice on this biryani can also be dum cooked in a pot or pan.

As I mentioned earlier, Kuska Rice is kind of a simple manner of constructing a flavorful rice dish. Identical to Ghee Rice or perhaps a fundamental Pulao, there’s not a lot that you need to do by way of making this particular rice from southern India.

One other variation to the Kuska Biryani is that this Biryani Rice, which is extra of a North Indian type of constructing it.

Along with serving the Kuska Biryani with a korma gravy, masala gravy, salan, biryani shorba, dal, raita or simply plain curd, I like to have it with rajma masala and even dal makhani. It tastes actually good with these specialties as nicely.

Step-by-Step Information

make Kuska Rice

Prep Rice and Sauté Elements

1. Rinse 1 cup (215 grams) heaped basmati rice very nicely in water until the water runs away from starch.

Soak rice in sufficient water for 20 to half-hour. I’ve used basmati rice. You may also use seeraga samba rice.

2. Warmth 2 tablespoons ghee in a pot or pan.

3. Add the next listed spices and allow them to splutter on low warmth:

• ½ teaspoon caraway seeds (shahi jeera) – swap with ½ teaspoon cumin seeds as an alternative
• 1 inch cinnamon
• 2 to three cloves
• 2 inexperienced cardamoms
• 1 to 2 single strands of mace
• 1 tej patta (Indian bay leaf)

4. Then, add ⅓ cup thinly sliced onions.

5. Sauté the onions on low to medium warmth, stirring usually.

6. Sauté until the onions begin turning gentle golden.

7. Then, add 1 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste.

8. Stir and sauté on low warmth for just a few seconds until the uncooked aroma of ginger and garlic goes away.

9. Add ½ cup chopped tomatoes and sauté for a minute. You may even skip tomatoes in order for you.

10. Add 1 or 2 sliced or slit inexperienced chilies, 1 tablespoon chopped mint leaves and 2 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves.

11. Combine very nicely.

12. Now, add 2 cups water. As an alternative of water, you may also use Vegetable Stock. Relying on the standard and kind of rice, you may add 1.5 to 2.25 cups water.

Cook dinner Kuska Rice

13. Cowl the pan with its lid.

14. On medium warmth, carry your entire water combination to a boil.

15. When the water begins boiling, take away the lid after which add the rice.

16. Season with salt as per style and blend very nicely. Style the water, it ought to style a bit salty. If not, then add some extra salt.

17. Add 1 teaspoon lemon juice. Stir as soon as once more.

18. Place a cotton kitchen towel or serviette on the pan. You may also seal the pan with an aluminum foil. Now, place the lid on the pan.

19. Preserve the warmth to low or sim and dum prepare dinner until the rice grains are tender and cooked. It’s going to take about 7 to eight minutes for the rice to prepare dinner and soften.

Do use a thick bottomed pan, in order that the rice grains don’t stick on the backside of the pan. If you need you may test the rice grains as soon as whereas cooking.

If all of the water has been absorbed and the rice grains don’t look cooked, then add some sizzling water within the pan. Cowl and proceed to simmer.

20. When the rice grains are tender, mushy and all of the water has been absorbed, then flip off the warmth and permit a resting time of 5 to 7 minutes.

Later, gently fluff the rice with a fork. Serve Kuska Rice garnished with 1 to 2 tablespoons of coriander or mint leaves paired with a veg gravy, korma, raita, curry or dal of your alternative.

Professional Suggestions

1. Lengthy grained basmati rice works greatest for this recipe. Nevertheless, as in Tamil Nadu and different South Indian states, quick grain rice varieties like seeraga samba rice are additionally used. You are able to do that too.
2. Relying on the kind of rice, be sure that to make use of a correct water to rice ratio so that you just don’t find yourself getting overcooked or undercooked rice.
3. As an alternative of water, you should utilize vegetable inventory to prepare dinner the rice on this Kuska recipe.
4. Whereas ghee is what I choose to prepare dinner this rice because it solely provides to the flavors, you may also use oil. That manner, the recipe additionally turns into a vegan dish.
5. You may skip including the tomatoes within the kuska recipe.
6. In case you don’t have shahi jeera or caraway seeds at house, use the common jeera or cumin seeds.
7. When you have selfmade biryani masala or perhaps a store-bought one, you may add that to this Kuska Rice as nicely. However I choose mine with out using it.

Extra Biryani Recipes To Strive!

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This Kuska Rice from the archives, initially printed in October 2016 has been up to date and republished on January 2023.