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The old method of adding bay leaves to rice, which enhances the taste and aroma…
Samira Vishwas | May 18, 2026 2:24 PM CST

Lifestyle Desk- Rice is not just a food in Indian kitchen, but is an important part of the everyday plate of every household. Be it dal-rice, rajma-rice, khichdi, pulao or biryani, rice is liked in every form. Although cooking rice is considered an easy process, some small kitchen tips can completely change its taste and aroma. One such traditional method is to add bay leaves to rice while cooking it. This method has been a part of Indian kitchen for years and even today many people adopt it. Often people use bay leaves only to enhance the aroma in spices, but its use in rice is considered special in many ways.

Enhances taste along with aroma

When rice is cooked in boiling water and bay leaves are added to it, its mild aroma gets absorbed into every grain of rice. With this, even ordinary rice becomes more delicious and tastes like a restaurant. The special thing is that bay leaf does not suppress the natural aroma of rice, but enhances it further. This is the reason why it has been used in pulao, biryani and tempered rice for a long time. Many chefs also believe that bay leaves give the rice a slightly spicy and earthy aroma, which improves the eating experience.

antioxidant properties

Apart from taste, bay leaves are also considered beneficial for health. Antioxidants and properties that help in digestion are found in it. It is believed that it helps in making food light and digestible. This is the reason why bay leaves are used more in heavy food like biryani or spicy pulao.

Add bay leaves in this way

The method of adding bay leaves to rice is also very easy. Before cooking rice, one or two clean bay leaves are put in water. If desired, one or two cloves, small cardamom or some ghee can also be mixed with it. This increases the aroma of rice even more. When the rice is completely cooked, the bay leaves are removed and served. Nowadays people have started adopting old desi kitchen tips again. This easy way of cooking rice by adding bay leaves is also included in those traditional habits, which enhance the taste of food without much effort.


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