Varieties

It all stems from a simple grain. A grain which, on cooking, trebles its volume and will absorb many flavours and colours. A grain which has an enormous variety of uses and contains many vital everyday nutrients. This simple grain is rice – the stuff of life for East and West alike.
It worls probably not be an exaggeration to state that more people in the world eat rice than any other grain or cereal. Certainly in India rice is far more popular than wheat millet or any other grain.
Archeological evidence points out that rice was cultivated as early as the 4th millennium B.C. It may originally have been found in the foot hills of the Himalayas. It took many centuries and the development of trade routes from the far East to bring rice to Europe, where it fast emerged as a popular and widely known food around the 17th century.
It is not by pure coincidence that rice has become a staple food throughout the world; in fact, it is sheer commonsence. This economical and versatile food fits in well with todays views on healthy eating. Rice has at last lost its image of a super starchy food and can be sensibly included in calorie controlled diets – just 35 calories per cooked 25 grammes. 105 calories per raw 25 grammes. It is low in fat, free of cholesterol and very low in salt. It also contains some B vitamins, calcium, phosphorus and iron and so provides the basis for a very healthy meal.
Rice is so good to eat it is a source of quick energy and is the perfect foil for so many meat, fish and vegetable dishes.
Indians consume rice, in remarkably diverse ways. Apart from boiling it, rice is consumed as pulaos, khichdi (rice, legume and spice combined together) and as biriani, a rich dish in which meat and rice are cooked together. This last preparation was introduced to India from Iran. The well known spanish paella is very likely a local variation of biriani, brougt to spain by the muslims.
One avtar of rice is the “muri” or puffed rice. In India puffed rice is universally popular and is eaten all day as a snack. The “Jhalmuri” of Calcutta or the Bhelpuri of Bombay are two fire examples of dressed up puffer rice. The first is concoction of puffed rice, sliced onion, various spices, ras mustard oil and of course, green chilli. In bhelpuri one adds crushed deep fried flour puffs known as puris.
Another popular form in which rice is ingested in our country is the “chuda”, as it is called in Bengal. This is flatly pressed rice that can be fried or roasted, mixed with spices and taken as a snack. It make a very tasty cocktail accompaniment. An alternate form is to soften it in water and then eat it as a cereal with milk or curd with or without fruits. The combination of curd and pressed rice is easy to digest and is highly recommended for those recovering from an upset stomach.
No less intersting is the application of rice for aesthetic purposes. In parts of India, especially in the South and the east it is common practice to decorate the floor with rice powder mixed with water. In fact both cooked and uncooked rice as well as the unhusked grain are essential ingredients in every religious ceremony including weddings.
Thus while the rice may be eaten all over the world, nowhere else does this cereal continues to enjoy such diverse and sacrosanct functions as it does on the subcontinent. And only in India did our ancient philosophers declare that food is the supreme being. The Sanskrit word for food here is “annam” which is also a synonym for rice.