Restaurant Style Jeera Rice

Jeera rice or Zeera rice is an Indian and Pakistani dish consisting of rice and cumin seeds.[1] It is a popular dish in North India and Pakistan as an everyday rice dish.[2] It is easy to prepare, unlike biryani. "Zeera" is the Hindustani word for cumin seeds, often pronounced Jeera. The ingredients used are rice, cumin seeds, vegetable oil, onions and coriander leaves.

Instructions: 

• Rinse basmati rice till the water runs clear of starch. Soak the rice for 30 mins and then drain all the water. Keep aside.
• Heat 4 cups water till it comes to a boil. Add all the whole spices. Add rice and salt. Simmer the rice on a low flame uncovered.
• The rice grains should be cooked till tender and yet separate. Drain the water and keep the cooked rice aside.
• If you want you can rinse also the rice with water at room temperature. This stops the cooking of the rice and keeps the grains separate.
• Heat oil in a small pan. Add cumin/jeera.
• Let them crackle. They have to be fried well otherwise you will taste uncooked cumin in the rice.
• Add the spices. Stir for a few seconds. 
• Add the tempering to the hot or warm rice.
• With a fork, gently mix the tempering with the rice grains. Even if some rice grains break, its alright. Do gently taking care so as not to break the rice grains.
• Add coriander and gently mix or garnish the rice with coriander at the time of serving.
• Serve jeera rice hot or warm with a dal or vegetable/paneer curry of your choice.