Rice that cooks on its own? Yes, it exists. It is known as Komal Saul; It is an indigenous variety from Assam, that is quickly emerging as a quirky and sustainable alternative to conventional rice at a time when energy conservation is becoming a priority everywhere.
Komal Saul is made by manually processing Bora Saul, a variety of sticky rice grown widely in Majuli — the world’s largest deltaic island located amidst the ever-shifting sandbanks of the river Brahmaputra in Assam.
It has been traditionally consumed only by local communities. They prepare it by soaking it in hot water overnight and eat it the next day with either mustard oil and onions or potato mash and pickles.
Source: Lao sticky rice.jpg CC BY-SA 2.0
A local dish Jolpaan that is served mainly on the auspicious day is a favourite treat. Jolpaan is made with this subtly flavoured rice that is blended with curd or cream, jaggery, and banana powder.
Source: Gitarth Barua
This variety of Rice has unique softness because of its low content of amylose (a starch component). Komal Saul has just 4-5% amylose Compared to the usual 20-25% in most of the regular rice varieties. This also makes Komal Saul easily digestible. It doesn’t have a distinctive flavour of its own, and it takes on the taste of other.
Experts at the Central Rice Research Institute (CRRI) in Orissa who have developed the grain were inspired by so-called soft rice or Komal saul. It is hybrid of traditional soft rice with a high-yielding variety of regular rice. The result has been called Aghunibora.
The institute's director, Dr TP Adhya, said field trials of the new hybrid were already positive, suggesting that it could be grown in different climates across India. "This is the first time soft rice has been grown anywhere else," he said. "We are testing it now, and it is growing here in Orissa where the humidity is very high, and the temperature range is higher than in Assam."
Source: CC0 Creative Commons Rice
As per the Research has Komal Saul rice can most probably be grown in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, and West Bengal. These states have the similar agro-climatic zones as Assam.
The Guwahati-based exporter is planning towards creating instant rice cups where all one needs to do add hot water. Similar to Noodles cup available in the market. It may be quick-fix product using Komal Saul, for some dishes as pulao and vegetable rice.
Komal Saul can help in significantly reducing energy consumption.
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