Cooking Rice in a Microwave

When I came to US, one of the things I saw is the variety of gadgets they have in stores here for microwave cooking - omelette maker, egg boiler, rice cooker etc. Since I don't cook eggs as much, I bought a microwave rice cooker. When I first used it, I was amazed with its ease. And the quality of rice that came out of it was equivalent to that of an electric rice cooker. You don't have to keep a watch on the rice cooking on the stove or keep an ear open for the pressure cooker whistle to go off. Just set the time and you are done. A perfect bowl of rice is ready.

When I started blogging, I realised that many readers (esp people in India) wouldn't have a microwave rice cooker. So I tried to make rice using a microwave safe bowl - and voila, the results were the same with the same ease. So here is my way of cooking rice in the microwave.

One thing to note is that the wattage of your microwave might make a difference in the time required. I have a 1300W microwave, but I decrease its power level to 7 when making rice.

Total Time: 10-25 min (depending on quantity of rice)

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Ingredients: Rice - as per how much you want to make Water - double the rice + a little more Here are my proportions 1/2 cup rice with 1 cup + 2 tblsp water 1 cup rice with 2 1/4 cup water 1 1/2 cup rice with 3 1/2 cups water and so on ...

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Method:

1. Take a microwave safe bowl. Rice expands on cooking. So take a bowl large enough for rice and water plus have a little extra space for boiling and expanding.
2. Wash rice a couple of times. Add water. Some like to soak rice for sometime before cooking. I usually am in a hurry, so never do it.
3. Microwave on power 7 (based on my microwave of 1300W). The time is based on the amount of rice. The times I use are
   
        1/2 cup rice -------- 8 min
        1 cup rice -------- 10 min
        1 1/2 cups rice -------- 15 min
        2 cups rice -------- 20 min
   
   
4. Once the microwave is done, let the rice remain in for about 4-5 min before digging in. This resting period cooks the rice to its best.
5. All done - Serve

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Tips During boiling there might be a little water spillage in the microwave if the bowl used is smaller. This is OK. Left-over rice in the fridge often looses moisture and becomes hard. Add about 1/2 cup water and microwave 4-5 min. It will be soft again. The microwave cooker that I use is shown below.

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