Padma Lakshmi's 3 Tips for Cooking the Fluffiest Rice Are Life-Changing

“Rice? I was born in a sack of rice.”

We love receiving all of the cooking advice we can get, from Ina Garten’s easy pancake tips to Katie Lee Biegel’s genius chicken cutlet hack. Now, another one of our faves just showed us how to make the fluffiest rice, and our lives are better for it.

Padma Lakshmi, former Top Chef host, current host of Taste the Nation and cookbook author, is a proven expert in the kitchen—especially when it comes to cooking rice. The cook posted on TikTok her now-viral demonstration of how to make the best rice.

“People get freaked out about rice, but rice is really easy to make, so I’m going to show you how to make this basmati rice,” Lakshmi shares at the start of the video.

Related: Padma Lakshmi Eats This Cozy 25-Minute Dinner 'Almost Every Day’

While she uses basmati rice in this video, this advice can be applied when cooking any type of rice. Rice (yes, even white rice) is a healthy grain to add to your eating pattern, as its benefits can include helping with healthy digestion, boosting your energy levels and more. Not to mention that a side or base of fluffy rice is the epitome of comfort food.

Take some notes: here are Lakshmi’s top three tips for making fluffy, flavorful rice—and we think that you’ll never make rice the same way again.

Padma Lakshmi’s Top 3 Tips for Cooking Rice

Tip 1: Wash Your Rice Until the Water Turns Clear

Rinsing your rice is a crucial tip, according to Lakshmi.

“What people don’t realize is that the most important step to cooking basmati rice is to rinse it,” Lakshmi says as she pours out cloudy water from the pot of uncooked rice after her first rinse. “We want water to run clear. And this can take anywhere from three washes to seven.”

By rinsing your rice, you’re not only washing it, but you’re also removing any excess starch that can sometimes cause cooked rice to have a gummy or mushy texture. But if you’re not looking forward to pouring that much water down the drain, you can reuse the cloudy water by watering your plants with it!

Tip 2: Add the Rice to Already-Boiling Water

What surprised commenters the most was Lakshmi adding her washed rice to water that was already boiling. Starting to cook your rice when the water is already at a boil will help the outside and inside of each grain to cook evenly.

“So you want to put 2 cups water to each cup rice,” she explains, dumping her rice into the center of a boiling pot of water. “See how it’s in a pile? You just want to give it one stir so it’s level.” This leads her to her next and final tip.

Related: Is It OK to Eat Leftover Rice?

Tip 3: Don’t Overstir Your Rice

It may feel like you’re helping the rice by stirring it multiple times while it cooks, but Lakshmi says otherwise. After just one stir and with the rice in one layer at a roaring boil, Lakshmi turns down the temp to “extremely low, as low as it will go” before covering it.

“Don’t disturb it, don’t stir it, don’t do anything,” she insists. Over-stirring rice as it cooks can actually activate the starches, which can also cause a gummy texture (this is why we love our test kitchen-approved rice cookers so we’re forced to leave the rice alone). The rice will cook for 15 to 17 minutes, and according to Lakshmi, you will know when it’s almost ready once you can start smelling the “beautiful, starchy” aroma.

The Bottom Line

We’re taking note of Lakshmi’s three tips: wash the rice until the water runs clear, boil the water before adding the rice to the pot, and allow the rice to cook on low without extra stirring in between. Once you have fluffy rice that dreams are made of, you’ll want to enjoy it with our Easy Tofu Curry or One-Pan Spicy Okra & Shrimp for a complete meal.

Related: Rachael Ray Just Told Us the #1 Underrated Quick and Easy Meal That “Anyone Can Make”

Read the original article on Eating Well.