Tilda basmati rice

Recently I was sent a few samples of Tilda basmati rice to try. I've always gone for Kohinoor basmati, I guess because that's what I've been using right from my India days. I've NEVER used instant rice or bothered with the ready-cooked stuff available in supermarkets - the "just reheat" type.

So I was kind of meh when I saw that there were two packs of pre-steamed flavoured basmati rice along with the pack of plain uncooked basmati. One was a Sweet Chilli & Lime rice, and the other was Lime & Coriander. They only needed two minutes in the microwave to be ready for consumption.

I chose the Sweet Chilli & Lime to try, on the principle that anything with "chilli" in it automatically meant that Pete would not really want to try it! The ricetasted nice, and the grains were cooked through properly and each grain was separate - but somehow they seemed TOO separate. At any rate, I've never been able to get that sort of "each grain separate" effect at home. Oh, and there wasn't nothing "chilli" about it!

Pete tried the Lime & Coriander, and while he liked the taste and texture, he said it still came second-best to freshly cooked rice. Fair enough, I guess... so my verdict is that while the instant rice varieties brought out by Tilda are a good last resort if you're short of time, I would still always go for freshly-cooked basmati as far as possible.

And talking about freshly cooked basmati, the Tilda basmati "dry" (uncooked) rice was fabulous! I soaked the rice for an hour or so before cooking it, and the grains were quite amazingly long, almost as long as giant wild rice (easily 1cm or more). The aroma was lovely, too, and if it turns out that Tilda is cheaper than Kohinoor, I might just switch loyalties - or perhaps divide my loyalties between them... seems like less of a betrayal, wouldn't you say?