Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I bought this because it's impossible to find authentic 817 Elephant brand cleaned and highly aged basmati (beware of imitations). Because of the good reviews of this rice, however, I decided to try it. The "aged" taste is not as pronounced as authentic 817 Elephant , however, it cooks up fine and is pretty good. When cooked properly, according to "Persian" and Asian/Indian methods (see below), this is actually a good rice. UPDATE: After trying what I believed to be an authentic "817 Elephant" brand basmati rice only to find it bland, without the distinctive aroma, and undistinguished, I bought this Royal basmati for the second time. NOTE: In order to cook this rice in the authentic Indian/Persian method so that it doesn't get sticky, gummy or fall apart, there is a three-stage process I always use, taught to me ages ago by a real Persian cook. 1. Soak 1 cup rice in highly salted water for at least 2 hours. Overnight is good in the fridge. Drain and rinse well several times.This removes the starches which cause stickiness and breakage. 2. In a tall pot, cover the rice with unsalted water and boil no longer than four minutes. Drain and run cold water over the rice several times to stop the cooking process and remove the starches again. Clean and dry your pot. 3. In the bottom of your pot, put about 1 T. melted ghee (clarified butter) Using regular butter will cause burning. If you cannot find or make ghee, use canola oil. 4. Put the par-boiled rice on top of the ghee, poke about 6 holes straight down into the rice with the handle of a wooden spoon. 5. Meanwhile, mix together in a little dish 3 T. water + 1 T. canola oil or melted ghee and pour it over the rice, into the holes, too. DO NOT STIR. 6. Here's the important part: Wrap a towel around the underside of the pot's lid and secure the edges of the towel so they don't catch fire. (See photo.) This prevents ANY water condensation from dripping into your rice and assures separate, dry grains. 7. Fix lid tightly onto cooking pot and cook rice on medium-low heat 20 minutes. Without lifting the lid, you should be able to hear a faint "sizzle", but not a loud one. When it's cooked, up-end the whole pot onto a plate and fight over the "tadig", the crunchy "bottom of the rice". Each rice grain throughout will be dry and separate. It's a long process but it's worth the effort and can be done in 2 or 3 stages, so you don't have to do it all at once. When I do mine, which is often, I soak the rice one day, then par boil and 20-minute cook the next day.