Bagara Rice with Jeera – Cumin Seasoned Rice Dish

This Bagara rice with Jeera is a rice side dish that is perfect with any curry! A touch of cumin elevates a plate of plain rice.

If you’ve eaten Indian or Pakistani food in the past, you’ll know that no table is complete without some carbs! Rice, roti, naan, are usually the top options.

Mastering a few of these carb heavy side dishes is essential to cooking South Asian cuisine!

This Bagara rice or jeera rice (cumin seasoned rice), is just a bit more complex than making just plain Basmati rice, but it adds so much flavor, they won’t know how little effort it was for you!

It adds a bit of oomph but, does not overshadow your main curry or dish. It just makes the whole meal just a tiny bit more special.

For us, this rice was served on weekends, when the whole family was eating together, taking time away from the busy-ness of the week! When this rice appeared on the table, it meant that mom had a little extra time to cook, and she spent it on cooking this meal!

It also meant, that if we didn’t like the curry of the day, the rice with some plain yogurt, would make a great meal on it’s own!

Vagara / Bagara Rice with Jeera.

Bagara Rice is our version of seasoned rice.

For our version of bagara rice, the only spice we use is whole cumin seeds! Compared to all the dishes with a million ingredients, you’d be surprised with the power of this one spice to transform a plate of plain rice!

The magic is in the method of cooking.

Bagara / Vagar is a way of tempering spices in oil to allow them to bloom, which allows the spices to add flavor to any dish.

This technique is a simple way to flavor basic dishes like daal chawal and kadhi to add an explosion of flavor to simple dishes.

Ingredients

There are only a few ingredients in this recipe:

• Cumin – Zeera or Jeera – we’re using whole cumin seeds for this recipe. Cumin is earthy, spicy spice, with a bit of a nutty taste.
• Basmati Rice – We typically use long-grain aged Basmati rice for this recipe. We love using Royal Basmati Rice.

Recipe

#1 – Temper the cumin (Bagar / Vagar)

This is really the only extra step between, regular rice, and this special rice – and it makes a world of difference.

Start by heating up some oil, and add the cumin, and let it bloom to extract the flavor for a few minutes.

#2 – Add rice

Then, add the soaked rice, and water.

When you add the rice to the pot, the oil and cumin in the pot will sizzle.

Use the pot cover, or wear gloves for this step to make sure the oil doesn’t splatter on you!

#3 – Add enough water

Make sure to add just enough water, to absorb it into the rice. Too little, and the rice won’t have enough liquid to cooking. Too much, and you might end up with mushy rice.

Okay, so how much water?

This is where your mom and aunties will use their Desi measurements, and assume you know how much water to put in the pot!

Mom’s pro tip: Add just enough water where the water is about 3/4 of an inch above the rice.

#4 – Simmer the rice

Once everything is added to the pot, let the water come to a boil.

Then turn it to low, and let it just absorb the rice.

What to serve with Bagara Rice?

This jeera rice is the perfect side dish.

It goes well with any curry, and a side of yogurt or mint raita, especially ones that have more gravy. Here are some of our favorite curries to enjoy with this jeera rice:

• Karahi Chicken: Chicken in Spicy Tomato Sauce
• Kofta Curry: Pakistani Beef Meatball Curry
• Karahi Kabab: Seekh Kabab Curry
• Keema Aloo: Ground Beef & Potato Curry
• Korma: Chicken braised in a Yogurt sauce

If you give this recipe a try, we’d love to see it! Tag us on Instagram @thespicemess