The Best Basmati Rice

With “pleasantly chewy,” “long, elegant, distinct, intact grains” that are “graceful”-looking, with a “nice bite,” this long-aged Indian-grown rice was “fragrant and tender, perfect” when eaten plain and in pilaf. Cooked in Chicken Biryani, “this rice actually stands out; it contributes an earthy flavor and the grains are very long, elegant, and toothsome,” with “flavor [that] is the right amount of aromatic,” “sweet,” and “perfumy.” One taster simply wrote: “My favorite.”

“Fluffy, tender/firm, [and] aromatic,” with “moderately” “long and slender,” “very distinct” grains that tasted “nutty” and “toasty,” this rice was “very fragrant,” with a “buttery” aftertaste when eaten plain. In pilaf, tasters thought this rice was “beautifully tender” and “lush, perfumy, and rich,” with “full flavor,” but noted that it seemed a little more “mellow,” even a bit “bland,” in biryani.

“Gently fragrant,” with “mild flavor” and “nice distinct grains,” this rice was a bit “chewy” and “firm” when eaten plain. In pilaf, tasters enjoyed its “nice al dente texture” and “delicate” flavor with “grassy” notes, but some found that the “long, slim” grains had a “rough,” “coral-like” surface. Cooked in biryani, it became a little too soft, and while some tasters enjoyed its “earthy” flavor, a few mentioned that it came across as a little “bland.”

Even with its “long grains that are distinct without seeming dry,” “separate and tender,” and “leggy, with a delicate, subtle fragrance,” our previous winner didn't perform quite as well this time. Tasters praised its “clean flavor” but found it “a bit soft.” In biryani, “it meshed nicely with the chicken” and had “a pleasant flavor on its own; it's not flavorless.”

Despite tasters' praise for its “crazy-long grains!” and “floral” scent, this long-aged rice came in last in our plain tasting due to its “mushy” texture; we'd followed the package directions, which called for too much water. (We later tried tweaking the rice-to-water ratio, with minimal improvement.) But it was truly stellar in our Chicken Biryani, where tasters raved: “Delicious, slightly nutty flavor” and “Wow! I had no idea rice could be this flavorful and have the ability to stand out in such a flavor-packed dish like this.” Our takeaway? We recommend it—but only if you ignore the package instructions.

Tasters found this rice “chewy and slightly sticky. A little neutral in flavor, and texture is more like a short-grain rice.” “Mildly fragrant, nutty, but also not remarkable.” One wrote: “Are you sure this is basmati? The grains are short and fat. It looks like regular long-grain-like generic stuff. I don't dislike it, but it doesn't deliver on what basmati promises.” In pilaf and biryani, comments were similar, noting the “plumper, shorter, softer grains” that were “short and sticky for basmati,” with a “mild, noncompeting flavor.”

Tasters generally liked this American-grown rice, finding it “sweet,” with “buttery flavor,” but said “it looks much softer, clumpier, and fatter than I expected.” It was “quite thick for basmati,” with grains that were “short [and] sticky. This is not basmati.” In pilaf, tasters found it “more like plain white rice than basmati—thicker, stickier, no fluff factor.” “Not the profile I expect.” One summed it up: “I can't really tell that this is basmati rice, specifically.”

Tasters had several mild but oft-repeated complaints about this rice, calling it “clumpy, sticky, mealy” and “a bit starchy,” with “superlight flavor,” and noting that it was “not superaromatic.” “Grains stick together. Seems shorter-grained than appropriate.” In pilaf and biryani, it was “not very fragrant, not very flavorful, very bland, not much better than white rice” and “doesn't read as basmati.” Several mentioned “broken grains” of “all different sizes.” Perhaps most damning: “It's not terrible, but it does nothing truly well.”