"The White Pearl"
Basmati, is a variety of long, slender-grained aromatic rice which is traditionally grown in India, Pakistan, and Nepal. As of 2019, India accounted for 65% of the international trade in basmati rice making it the world’s largest exporter of Basmati rice. There are over a thousand aromatic
rice varieties but only a handful of those varieties can be called ‘Basmati’. The name comes from two Sanskrit root words – Vas which means aroma; and Matup which means ingrained. The earliest recorded mention of Basmati was in the epic Punjabi tale Heer Ranjha which was written in 1777 by Waris Shah. Then, Basmati was considered an item of luxury & grown for royalty and was a notoriously difficult crop to grow which made it extremely expensive. Thus Basmati is an ancient Indian grain being cultivated in the country for centuries. Its unique aroma, mouth-watering flavor and rampantly growing global popularity has rightly earned itself the title of “WHITE PEARL” amongst the grains or the KING of grains.
Basmati rice has a very distinct aroma, flavor, and texture. Its aroma has been described as similar to popcorn. Its flavor is sweet, nutty, and similar to pandan (an aromatic herb, Pandanus amaryllifolius, widely used in Asian cooking). Basmati adds a rich and complex layer of sensory quality to dishes. The cooked grains are long and slender, firm, and with a dry texture that does not stick together. Producers of basmati allow the paddy to age for at least one year to reduce its moisture content as this improves the firmness and elongation of the grains when cooked.
According to the Indian Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), a rice variety is eligible to be called basmati if it has a minimum average precooked milled rice length of 6.61 mm (0.260 in) and average precooked milled rice breadth of up to 2 mm (0.079 in), among other parameters
Shape: The longer the basmati grain, the better it is. Another important sign is a slightly tapered end of the grain. Basmati grains should never be flat along the sides. Color: The best basmati rice isn't pearly white—the grains will have a slightly golden hue, but shouldn't be gray.
