Red Rice and Black Rice (Kala Chawal): Worth It? How to Cook

Are red rice and black rice (kala chawal) worth their price? As a tasty change, yes. As a medicine, no. Both are whole-grain rice with a coloured bran, so they give you the fibre of brown rice plus natural plant pigments, and that’s the honest summary of black rice benefits and side effects: a little more goodness than white rice, a lot more cost, a longer cooking time, and mild gas for some people. This guide explains where the colour comes from, which red and black rices you’ll actually find in Pakistan and India, and exact soaking times, water ratios and pressure cooker whistles for each.

What gives red and black rice their colour?

Picture each grain wearing a thin coat. On brown rice that coat is plain brown. On red rice it’s dyed brick red by natural pigments called proanthocyanidins, the same family that gives strong tea its colour and slight dryness in the mouth. On black rice the coat is packed with anthocyanins, the deep purple pigments found in jamun, black grapes and purple cabbage.

Plants make these pigments partly to protect themselves, and for us they act as antioxidants, compounds that help mop up some wear-and-tear chemicals in the body, which sounds exciting until you remember that a katori of black rice is one colourful food among many, not a dose of anything. Only the coat is coloured. Polished “red rice” that looks pale pink has lost most of what you paid for.

Which red and black rice will you find?

Red rice

• Kerala matta (rosematta, Palakkadan matta): a coarse, fat, usually parboiled red rice, the daily rice of many Kerala homes. Earthy, filling, slow to cook.
• Himalayan and hill red rice: smaller, not parboiled, softer and quicker to cook. Sold from Uttarakhand, Himachal and Bhutan.
• Red rice from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu: local varieties sold as “red raw rice” or “red boiled rice” (the boiled one is parboiled).

Black rice

• Chak-hao: the aromatic black rice of Manipur, often cooked into kheer.
• Karuppu kavuni: a traditional Tamil Nadu black rice, used for sweets and porridge.
• “Forbidden rice”: Chinese black rice. Legend says only emperors could eat it; nobody can prove that, but it sells well.
• Black glutinous rice: a sticky Southeast Asian dessert rice. It turns gluey and usually raises blood sugar faster. Not the same thing.

Availability in Pakistan and India

In India, red matta is ordinary shop rice in Kerala and easy to find in South Indian stores elsewhere. Black rice is mostly sold online and in larger supermarkets. In Pakistan both are uncommon, mostly small imported packs in big-city supermarkets and online, so check the packing date, because the oily bran goes stale.

Red rice vs brown rice vs black rice: honest numbers

Honest takeaway: red and black rice are brown rice with a bonus of pigments, no lighter in calories, so choose on taste, cooking time and price. For the brown rice side of the story, read brown rice vs white rice.

Black rice benefits and side effects, without the hype

The real benefits

• Whole grain: more fibre than white rice, so it’s more filling and a bit slower to raise sugar.
• Pigments: a useful extra, like eating jamun or purple cabbage.
• Taste and texture: nutty, slightly sweet, lovely in kheer, salads and khichdi.

The side effects

• Gas and bloating: the same as brown rice. Start small and soak it.
• Arsenic: all whole-grain rice carries more arsenic in its bran than polished rice does. Rotate it with other grains, and cook in plenty of water and drain when you can.
• Staining: black rice colours pots, wooden spoons, white marble and clothes. It’s harmless but stubborn.
• Price: often several times the cost of good basmati. You’ll feel that first.

Black rice for hair, skin or the liver? Search results promise a lot, but there’s no good reason to expect a rice to change your hair or skin, and a normal food portion isn’t a liver concern for healthy people. Concentrated black rice extract sold as a pill is a different product; ask your doctor before taking it, especially alongside regular medicines.

Is red rice good for diabetes?

It’s a reasonable choice, in the same league as brown rice: better than a heap of polished white rice, not a food that controls sugar. Parboiled matta and black rice tend to digest a little more slowly; black glutinous rice does the opposite. The portion line doesn’t change. One katori or less per meal, half the plate sabzi, daal or dahi alongside, and a short walk afterwards (see roti or rice portions). Your meter reading 2 hours after the meal is the only verdict that counts for you. Our best rice for diabetes guide ranks the common options side by side.

How to cook red rice and black rice

All three types start the same way: rinse gently 2 or 3 times (black rice will run purple, that’s normal) and soak in plenty of water. Then follow the line for your rice. Each cup of raw rice is about 190 g and gives roughly 3 cups cooked.

1. Kerala matta (parboiled red): soak 2 hours or overnight in the fridge. Pot method: boil in 6 cups of water per cup of rice for 35 to 45 minutes until soft, then drain. Pressure cooker: 3 cups water per cup, 6 to 8 whistles on medium, then natural release.
2. Unparboiled red rice (hill or “red raw”): soak 1 hour. Absorption: 2 cups water per cup, simmer covered 25 to 30 minutes, rest 10. Pressure cooker: 2 cups water, 3 whistles.
3. Black rice (Chak-hao, kavuni, forbidden): soak 1 to 4 hours. Absorption: 2 to 2 1/4 cups water per cup, simmer covered 30 to 35 minutes, rest 10. Pressure cooker: 2 cups water, 3 to 4 whistles.
4. Test a few grains. They should be tender with a slight chew. Still hard? Add 3 tablespoons hot water, cover and steam 10 minutes more.
5. Mixing with white rice: boil the soaked red or black rice for 15 to 20 minutes first, then add soaked white rice and cook until both are done.

Myth: black rice is a medicine for diabetes and weight loss

Plenty of pages call black rice a sugar-controlling food. It isn’t. It’s a whole grain that raises blood sugar less sharply than white rice, with the same calories per katori. People believe the myth because the dark colour looks medicinal and because the pigments really are antioxidants. But eating an antioxidant-rich food doesn’t make that food a treatment. Enjoy it for what it is. Keep taking what your doctor prescribed.

Red rice is not red yeast rice

This matters. Red yeast rice is ordinary rice fermented with a mould, sold as a cholesterol supplement. It contains a compound that is chemically the same as a prescription statin medicine, so it can cause the same muscle and liver side effects, can interact with other medicines, and poorly made products may carry a mould toxin that harms the kidneys. It’s not a food, and it’s not covered here beyond this warning. Never take it alongside a prescribed statin, in pregnancy, or without asking your doctor first. The red rice in this article is simply a whole-grain food.

You’ll find more whole grains and daals in Grains, Daals & Pulses.

Red and black rice questions people ask