The boiling of rice is, as I have said, a matter of no difficulty to us in India. The native cook thoroughly understands the process, and invariably, I may say, sends an inviting looking dish to the table in which each grain appears to have been cooked independently, snowy white in appearance, and free from impurities of all kinds. A sodden mass of "stodgy" rice as dressed by Mary Jane in England is a thing unknown to the Anglo-Indian Exile. There are, however, some who may like to know how the task is performed, so for their benefit here is the recipe :-

Having thoroughly sifted, and cleansed the rice, cast it into boiling water with a pinch of sugar, a salt-spoonful of salt, and the juice of a quarter of a lime. Stir the grains as they are cooking with a wooden spoon every now and then, and in about twelve minutes test them by taking of few grains out of the water, and pinching them between the finger and thumb. As soon as the grain is tender, check the boiling by a dash of cold water, remove the vessel from the fire, and invert it, holding the rice securely with the lid yet leaving space enough for the escape of the water. When quite dry, re-invert the pan, shaking the well drained grains of rice in the hot vessel in which they were cooked. Lastly, cover the pan with a clean cloth, and let it rest on the hot-plate, or over a very low fire to complete the drying. After this, the rice will be ready and may either be sent up as it is, or dressed according to one of the following recipes:-

Riz a la Napolitaine

Empty the well boiled rice into a hot sauce-pan with plenty of butter : stir till thoroughly hot and well lubricated, add tomato pulp enough to moisten the whole nicely, and finish with finely grated Parmesan, Gruyere, or other mild dry cheese. Serve piping hot. When lifted with the fork, the grains of rice should carry with them long strings or tendrils of melted cheese as in the case of Maccaroni a l'Italienne.

Riz a l'Italienne

Melt an ounce of butter at the bottom of a sauce-pan which ought to have been previously well rubbed with a piece of garlic; shred an onion the size of a racquet ball very finely and fry it in the butter; stir into this, when of a golden yellow colour, two breakfast-cupfuls of well boiled rice; work it vigorously with a wooden spoon while an assistant shakes into the pan a couple of heaped up table-spoonfuls of grated Parmesan or Gruyere; garnish the dish with strips of anchovies, and serve it piled upon a flat dish.

Riz a la bonne femme

As the foregoing, but stirring into the mixture some finely rasped ham, or corned beef, and garnishing with curls of crisply fried bacon.

Riz a l'Indienne

Commence as laid down for riz a l'Italienne using plenty of good butter. Omit the tomato pulp, and instead of the grated cheese, stir in a table-spoonful of well made currypowder, and garnish with prawns that have been tossed in butter with a pinch of saffron.

Riz au chou

Boil some rice as for the above, and keep it ready in a dish. Cut up the heart of a tender cabbage (a 'savoy,' or 'sugar-loaf,' for instance). Melt a couple of ounces of butter in a roomy stew-pan, cast into it a finely shred Bombay onion, and two cloves of garlic minced as small as possible : let the onion turn yellow, and then put in the shred cabbage, stir it about for three minutes with the butter and onions, and then pour over it enough broth or consomme to keep it from burning: stew gently now until the cabbage is cooked, then add the rice which should be vigorously stirred about for five minutes with the cabbage. The dish is now ready. Turn it out upon a flat dish, and smother it with grated cheese. A slice of nice bacon may, with advantage, be cooked with the cabbage; it should be cut into dice, and put in with the butter and onion. For an ordinary head of cabbage, three breakfast-cupfuls of rice will be found enough.

Riz a la Turque

In this, and in the following cases, the rice is not wholly boiled beforehand. Put into a saucepan six coffee-cupfuls of broth or consomme into which sufficient tomato pulp has been stirred to slightly thicken it, flavour this with salt and black pepper to taste, and set the sauce-pan on the fire. As soon as the liquid boils, cast into it three coffee-cupfuls of well cleansed raw rice. Reduce the heat, and let the rice stew gently in the tomato-flavoured gravy. As the rice cooks it will absorb the liquid : watch it narrowly, and as soon as it has sucked up the whole of it, stir into it an ounce of fresh butter. Just before serving, a dust of nutmeg should be added, and some raisins carefully picked and cleaned may be thrown in as a garnish.

Another method Biz a la Milanaise, is to parboil the rice for five minutes, and then to fry it in butter with a shred onion until it begins to take colour. After that to add stock without tomato, but coloured with saffron. When the rice is cooked, the gravy may be thickened with flour, and the whole served hot with grated Parmesan. Some, in this case, add the stock by degrees, allowing the rice to drink it up as it were. As this process is conducted, the grains gradually distend, and when ready to burst are fit to serve. No thickened gravy is served with this, - the true risotto of Italy, - but a pat of butter is melted among the grains, while Parmesan is liberally dusted over them.

Riz a la menagere

For this excellent plat, wash and blanch six ounces of rice in boilings water for five minutes using a roomy stew-pan; cool and drain it on a sieve. "Weigh a quarter of a pound of the best streaky bacon, dip it into scalding water for a couple of minutes, and then cut it into inch dice. Fry these in a stew-pan till they turn yellow, add the rice, and a pint and a half of broth, with a salt-spoonful of pepper. Simmer for twenty minutes, stirring the rice every now and then to prevent its catching at the bottom of the pan. Now take it off the fire, and add half a pint of tomato puree or sauce. Mix thoroughly, and put the rice on a dish. Garnish with sausages, curls of fried bacon, croquettes of fish, or any savoury mixture you like, worked into small shapes, and fried a golden yellow.

A little consideration of these recipes will, I think, show what a useful article of food rice may be made. In select-ing a recipe remember that raw rice of a good quality swells to four times its original bulk when boiled. It therefore requires plenty of water when undergoing that process. Carolina rice takes even a deeper bath than Patna. Two quarts of water to six ounces is a good proportion for the latter, and an extra pint for the same weight of the former. The dash of lime or lemon juice produces whiteness. The immediate checking of ebullition as soon as the grains are tender causes that disintegration of the grains which is a sine quit non in well boiled rice.

Indian Corn. Mais

Indian corn (mais) may be dressed with tomato pulp and grated cheese in the style of maccaroni a l'Italienne, or riz a la Napolitaine.