has a chewy texture and a rich aroma, often
described as nutty. Thanks to the oil in its
bran and germ, it’s more susceptible to staling
than polished rice, and is best stored in the
refrigerator.
Parboiled or Converted Rice For more than
2,000 years, rice producers in India and
Pakistan have parboiled nonaromatic varieties
before they remove the hull and mill them to
white rice. They steep the freshly harvested
grain in water, boil or steam it, and then dry it
again before hulling and milling. This
precooking brings several advantages. It
improves the nutritional quality of the milled
grain by causing vitamins in the bran and
germ to diffuse into the endosperm, and
causing the aleurone layer to adhere to the
grain. Precooking the starch also hardens the
grain and makes its surface less sticky, so
when cooked again, parboiled rice produces
separate firm intact grains. Parboiled rice also