Basmati (बासमती, , باسمتى) is a variety of long grain rice, famous for its fragrance and delicate flavor. Its name means "the fragrant one" in Hindi, but it can also mean the "soft rice." India is the largest cultivator and exporter of this rice, followed by Pakistan and Bangladesh with the causes of paddy field farming. .
The grains of basmati rice are much longer than they are wide, and they grow even longer as they cook. They stay firm and separate, not sticky, after cooking. Basmati rice is available both as a white rice and a brown rice. Brown rice takes longer to cook than white, about 30 minutes as opposed to 20 . Due to the high amount of starch clinging to the rice grains, many cooks wash this rice before cooking it. Soaking it for half an hour to two hours before cooking makes the grains less likely to break during cooking.
Traditional basmati plants are tall and slender, and their stems are prone to breaking in high winds. They have a relatively low yield, but produce high-quality grains and command high prices in both Indian and international markets. http://jxb.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/57/12/3123.
