Rice Rice Everywhere…Not a Grain to Eat
I was thinking that rice loving states in India would recognise the difference but alas!, People go by the looks only. Mother called from Kolkata today telling that she had brought a long grain, shiny, polished, clean and absolutely perfect rice from the local grocery shop though I had warned her of the fake rice from China. Luckily she remembered my warning after a week and checked while cooking. It gives a very thick layer of the pseudo starch on top of water, rice remains sticky even after washing with cold water but has very long and unbroken grain. Layer of pseudo starch (molten plastic) sticks to the pan and can be peeled out as thin sheet, which when burned in flame gives the plastic odour (check the video in link 1). Mother tested all this and finally returned the rice to the shop.
These are all the tests which can be done when we have bought the rice and cooking it but the best test is our eyes and connection with Mother Nature. Nature loves variety and the first thing that will strike you is all the rice grains are exactly same. When confronted the grocer told its basmati from Haryana. Funny , this is a unique feature of our country. Name an unknown, suspicious origin product as far from the region as possible. It actually comes from the fact that in this age of media and internet we still don’t try to know about other regions of the country. ‘Haryana is the biggest exporter of Basmati and the basmati smells great and doesn’t give a thick layer while cooking. Maybe it’s being called ‘Kerala Basmati’ or ‘Goan Basmati’ in Haryana. Neither of them grow basmati but ignorant fellow citizens will pay premium price to have this wonderful looking poison. Check out some of the links given below and do your own research before purchasing any new and most important perfect looking rice.
References:
http://mathrubhuminews.in/ee/ReadMore/13398/fake-rice-made-from-plastic-are-on-sale-in-kerala/E
http://www.oryza.com/22063/traces-chinese-plastic-rice-found-india
http://www.oneindia.com/india/plastic-rice-on-sale-god-s-own-country-kerala-1681097.html
http://www.rawstory.com/2011/02/report-china-fake-rice-plastic/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHffAdS3vTs
