Processing of Grains - Rice

            All three parts of a grain are needed for the nourishment of our body.  If all three parts of a grain are present in processed foods, they are considered whole grain. By comparison, refined grains contain only the endosperm. When the germ and bran portions are removed during milling, the nutrient content is reduced by 25 to 90 percent. Most refined grain foods are enriched with some of the nutrients lost in milling.

     For example, in the case of rice, Brown rice is covered with bran layer, that densely wraps around each grain. Brown or cargo rice is high in fiber, protein and vitamins. Polishing brown rice removes the bran layer which is rich in vitamins  and nutrients, resulting in white rice.

Parboiled rice is an intelligent, ancient technique  to preserve the nutrients by soaking, cooking, drying paddy along with its husk before milling. Due to this process, the nutrients leach from the bran into the  endosperm layer. When the rice is polished, the nutrients are not completely lost. Parboiled rice is a processed rice which is more healthy than white rice but cannot compete with the nutritional value of brown rice.

      Brown rice , though nutritionally good, is hard for many to digest. There are three ways to make it soft and very tasty.

      1. Soaking brown rice overnight in water. Soaking causes the phytates to break down so that vitamins and minerals and other nutrients are freely available  to be   absorbed.

      2. Add more water while cooking. Usually for white rice, water is added in the ratio of   1: 1.5 or 2 (One to one and a half or two). For brown rice the ratio should be 1:2.5 or 3 (One to two and a half or three). This makes the rice  really soft.

      3. Cooking in a pressure cooker. If that is not an option, then cooking time should be 10-15 minutes more than white rice.

BY Shakti Foundation