What can I use instead of white rice?

The bran layer left on brown rice is water-resistant, so it needs both more liquid to penetrate and far more time before the starch inside gelatinises.

MethodIncrease the liquid to 2 1/4 cups per cup of rice and the covered simmer from about 18 minutes to 45 to 50, then rest it off the heat for 10 minutes. Both changes are the substitution — swapping the grain alone gives you crunchy, undercooked rice.

Trade-offChewier, nuttier and never as fluffy. In a one-pot dish where everything cooks together, the extra 30 minutes will overcook whatever else is in the pan.

Quinoa absorbs a similar volume of liquid on a similar timescale, which makes it one of the few grain swaps that needs almost no adjustment.

MethodRinse it in a fine sieve until the water runs clear first, then rest it covered off the heat for 5 minutes before fluffing.

Trade-offDistinctly grassy and slightly bitter compared with rice, with small springy beads rather than separate grains.

Couscous is not a grain at all but tiny pasta made from semolina, and it is steeped rather than simmered, so it needs far less liquid and almost no cooking.

MethodPour 1 cup of boiling liquid over 1 cup of couscous, cover tightly, take it off the heat entirely and leave it 5 minutes, then fork it through. Simmering it makes paste.

Trade-offReady in five minutes instead of twenty, but soft and slightly gluey rather than fluffy, and it contains wheat, so it is not gluten-free.

Allergen checkCouscous is made from durum wheat semolina and contains gluten. It is not a safe swap for anyone with coeliac disease or a wheat allergy — use quinoa or rice instead, and treat a diagnosed allergy as a medical matter rather than a recipe adjustment.