How to cook Kerala Matta Rice ? Cooking Kerala Matta Rice in Pressure Cooker – Mattai Arisi samaipadhu eppadi ?

Kerala Matta Rice/Palakkadan Matta Rice/Red Parboiled Rice was considered a Royal food in Chera/Chola Kingdoms due to the richest nutrients present in it.

Red-hued outer husk is the pericarp which is rich in minerals, vitamins and dietary fibre. This is removed in polished white rice. Polishes might look good on nail and face, but not in rice. I request my readers to switch to Matta rice for better health. My kid is eating this from 3.5 years of her age. Do initiate the change !

Calcium-rich Matta Rice is ideal for Moms-to-be, Pregnant ladies , Lactating moms and kids. Protein-rich Matta Rice is good for dads-to-be and kids. I have used Kerala Kuthari Matta Rice for this recipe..

Preparation – How to cook Kerala Matta Rice using Pressure Cooker?

1.Take a cup of Matta Rice and wash twice or thrice.2.Soak the Matta rice in lots of water for an hour, minimum. Take the soaked matta rice and transfer to Pressure cooker. Add 5 cups of water to it.3.Close it, put on the whistle and cook in high heat(#8 in knob stove) for 1 whistle. Then, reduce heat to low-medium(#4 in knob stove) and cook for 15 minutes. Cut off the heat and wait for 15-20 more mins for the pressure to release naturally.4.Strain the starch water as shown below. It will take 15+ minutes to drain completely.    Serve the rice with any curry of ur choice !

Tips/Tricks in cooking Matta Rice

• Do not wash the rice directly in pressure cooker. Wash in another vessel and then transfer the rice to cooker so that any dirt or sand settles in water in the vessel.
• If you want to cook more rice…,
  • Do not double the water. Just increase 2 more cups for every more cup of rice.
  • Also, use bigger cooker if it’s more than a cup of rice.
  • If it is more than 2 cups of rice, I would recommend to cook in a vessel(with rice and water) inside cooker(with lil water in the base) to avoid overflowing while cooking.
• Soaking increases the bio-availability of the rice and also speeds up cooking process. At least one hour of soaking is recommended.
• In India, you can find Matta rice in supermarkets and Rice shops. In USA, you can find it in all Indian shops or order online in Amazon. The brand I prefer is – Laxmi’s Kerala Kuthari Rice(used in this post). You can also get Palakkadan Matta rice from any brand and cook just like Kuthari rice. I have also tried Double Horse brand’s Vadimatta, but it cooks faster and requires less(1 hour) or no soaking at all. Also, the latter one needs just 10 mins of cooking while the former ones demand 15 mins. But Vadimatta turns lil sticky & mushy(still suits when you have babies).