Indian Basmati Rice (organic, butter, consumers, grocery store)

[20Hope20]

This question is for CC’s Indian posters. Which brand is good? Where to buy it? What’s the average price for good quality rice? Is it available online at prices comparable to ethnic grocery stores?

[silibran]

Not Indian. I buy Lundberg’s California Brown Basmati rice. It is one of the few food items I stockpile, because I can’t always find it.

I cook it in the Instant Pot, after toasting it briefly in a bit of butter before adding water or broth.

California rice is not tainted with arsenic, as are rices grown in TX and Arkansas.

[20Hope20]

Originally Posted by silibran

Not Indian. I buy Lundberg’s California Brown Basmati rice. It is one of the few food items I stockpile, because I can’t always find it.

I cook it in the Instant Pot, after toasting it briefly in a bit of butter before adding water or broth.

California rice is not tainted with arsenic, as are rices grown in TX and Arkansas.

I’ll try that. Is it available online or from main retailers? Does ethnic stores import their banasmati from India? Is it tainted as well or safe to use?

[NYC refugee]

I'm not Indian, either, but have been using basmati rice for years. I like Tilda, which has a very clean taste, like Barilla pasta, so you can taste sauces and other seasonings.

Lately there has been a brand, Khazana, which I also find excellent, and it was at BJ's Club for less than $1 a pound, which is a steal. The grain is longer than Tilda. The red bag Khazana is supposed to be a longer grain still, which is apparently considered a good thing in basmati.

Trader Joe's has a no brand that they sell like bulk, and it's OK.

Carolina is probably easier to find and is imported and authentic.


I've found $1.50 a pound to be a good price.

[elnina]

Originally Posted by 20Hope20

Does ethnic stores import their banasmati from India? Is it tainted as well or safe to use?

Yes. It's easy to find out the origins of their rice. It's also cheaper to import from India or China and ethnic consumers prefer to buy products originated in their countries.
However, brown basmati from California, India, or Pakistan is the best choice; it has about a third less inorganic arsenic than other brown rices.
Remember that in the US, there is no federal limit for arsenic in rice and rice products.

[NYC refugee]

If you're concerned about arsenic, there's far less in white basmati than in brown.

[elnina]

There is a new "revolutionary" method of cooking raw rice that removes a significant amount of arsenic:
(kinda makes me wonder why people didn't discover it earlier - you would think it's a common sense)
https://www.sciencealert.com/scienti...-the-nutrients

[elnina]

Originally Posted by silibran

California rice is not tainted with arsenic, as are rices grown in TX and Arkansas.

You probably wanted to say: not so much tainted (average 40% less) but its still tainted.

[Brave New World]

Tilda rice is quite popular in the UK.

[silibran]

Originally Posted by 20Hope20

I’ll try that. Is it available online or from main retailers? Does ethnic stores import their banasmati from India? Is it tainted as well or safe to use?

The reason US rice is tainted is because of farming practices. Consumer Reports, which first announced their findings, blamed fertilizer runoff in the water used in farming rice. As far as I know nothing has been done about this. And as far as I know Indian Basmati is not tainted.

I get Lundbergs at a local “specialty” grocer. If I patronized an Indian grocer, I’d buy their stuff. But I will say that the bulk Basmati I bought at my local WINCO was not nearly as good as the Lundbergs. Lundbergs produces other rices as well.