Rice: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

That fluffy little grain, perfectly cooked and paired with almost anything--rice is one of the most versatile grains in the kitchen. Yet, I wonder, is it even good for you anymore?

Western medicine and nutrition seems to vilify rice, crediting weight gain and glycemic spikes to this small and innocent grain. Carbs get a bad wrap and rice gets ousted from most meal plans as people equate "health" to calories and macronutrients. Did we forget all the processes in our body that require carbohydrates? Did we forget our own inherent wisdom along the way?

Ayurveda says: Rice is Queen. Specifically, Basmati rice is the Queen of all grains. Considered beneficial for everyone (especially Vata and Pitta Dosha), rice boasts it's greatest nutritional impact by its digestibility. You see, Ayurveda doesn't categorize foods as good or bad (let alone, ugly), it simply suggests greater and less proportions of foods according to their taste deepening on your dosha and the time of year.

When you start to look at foods in their digestibility and not for their caloric or macronutrient content, you can began to see how simple feeding yourself is. How intuitive it is. Those winter months when you crave warm, cooked foods like soups and stews, the summer months where you want fresh fruit and foods to cool you down, and in spring when you notice a slight decrease in hunger and lighter fare is your fancy--thats called your body's natural and balanced hunger. That is true, intuitive eating.

AYURVEDIC PROPERTIES OF BASMATI RICE

Rasa (taste): Sweet

Virya (energy): Cooling

Vipaka (post-digestive effect): Sweet

Gunas (qualities): Light, unctuous, cold, easy, slow

Dosha Karma (effect on doshas): Balancing to Vata & Pitta, increasing to Kapha; Sattvic

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HOW TO COOK RICE

First, soak the rice grains in water for at least one hour and rinse. By doing this process, a few things occur. You increase the digestibility of rice and shorten it's cooking time. Soaking the rice releases arsenic and phytic acid into the water, both harmful chemicals that if ingested regularly can have harmful health consequences as well as decrease absorption of iron, zinc, and calcium.

Basmati rice cooks with a 1:2 ratio (one cup of rice to two cups of water). Soaked rice uses slightly less so I would suggest 1 cup of rice to 1 3/4 cups water. Add this to the pot and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Turn off burner and let sit for 5-10 minutes to finish cooking. Fluff with fork.

My family enjoys turmeric coconut rice or simply adding ghee or butter with some salt and pepper.

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Namaste