Black Rice (Kalabatti) – Good for Heart Health

Last Updated on February 18, 2024 by Dharani

What is Black Rice?

However, white rice cannot be called a fully healthy choice, because of is highly processed. So, in this situation let’s know about a very underrated and unpopular option in the rice category and that is Black Rice. Black Rice sounds strange right, but you’ll be shocked to know that it has been cultivated in India for ages.  Especially in the North-Eastern regions of India, like Orissa, Jharkhand, and West Bengal, etc.

Rice has been an important part of the Indian diet. It is considered as the most important grain after pulses.  And therefore it has a huge variety i.e. Regular White rice, Jasmine Rice, Basmati Rice, Brown Rice and many more,

Infact, you’ll be shocked to know that there are around 40,000+ varieties of rice all over the world. Although, the most common type of rice that has been used by the majority of people is White Rice, and it has its benefits.

Health/Medicinal Benefits of Black Rice

Talking about its health benefits, they are enormous. Firstly, black rice has a lot of nutrients that protect our heart health. It is rich in antioxidants, which act as safeguards for our eye cells, protecting them from harmful UV rays.

Apart from that, it may help in losing weight and dealing with a deadly disease like cancer as well. One more interesting fact about Black Rice is that it is gluten-free.

For a diabetic person, rice becomes a big no, but when it comes to black rice it’s a great idea to have it because Black rice is low in sugar is not only safe for diabetes but also, by improving insulin it may help in curing diabetes.

Organic Black Rice Nutrition Facts:

Now after knowing about its benefits, let’s see its nutritional properties.

So basically, Black Rice contains:-

1. Vitamin B2 and B3
2. 173 calories
3. 5 gms protein
4. 2 gms fat
5. 38 gms carbohydrates
6. Sugar(just about 1 gm)
7. Fiber 3 gms
8. 0 milligrams of cholesterol

So with this information, we can say that Black Rice is a treasure of many nutrients and minerals to nourish our overall health.

In fact, Organic Black Rice is a better choice as compared to brown rice in terms of health benefits.

Now, this unique variety of rice has a unique and organic procedure of cultivation as well.

Black Rice Cultivation Process

Its cultivation process starts with sprouting the Black Rice seeds, and that is done by filling a container with room temperature water and soaking the seeds in that water for around 24 hours. If any seed seems to be floating on the water, then that seed is removed from the container because it can be hollow from inside and thus it is of no use in growing rice.

Now after 24 hours of soaking the seeds are separated from water and covered by a secure lid to be placed in a sunny place for another 24 hours.

Then on a field which is well occupied with about one inch of compost. In this condition, the seeds are ready to be sown. Now the seeds are sown in a horizontal position instead of vertical.

After this is done the seeds are supposed to be watered frequently until the seeds start sprouting which generally takes around 2-3 weeks. Black Rice takes around 4 to 6 weeks to grow. And then the last step is to harvest the rice. Now this naturally grown rice is fully ready to enter the market.

Black Rice Recipes

1. It is used for making porridge, biryani, dessert, noodles, and many more.
2. It has a unique roasted taste that makes it a very tasty meal even if it is just simply boiled.

Conclusion:

Black Rice is also known as forbidden rice and that has a different story. It is said that in ancient times this variety of rice was reserved for a higher class of people and was available only for the rulers, emperors, and kings.

But now that it has become easily available for almost everyone, why not buy it and have it like a king.