\n Every religious ceremony has to involve rice. \n Rice is stuck on the red vermillion that is applied to your forehead as akshat. \n Rice is poured into the holy fire lit during religious ceremonies as an offering to the gods. \n Rice is sprinkled over guests, worshippers and the newlyweds to bless them, with the incantation: βMay your life be full of dhan (wealth) and dhanya (rice).β \n ??? Rice is βpopularβ because it is one of the easiest foods to digest. \n Being totally gluten free, it is the best food for infants when they have to be weaned. \n For young adults and old people too, who may have wheat allergies or even celiac disease, adopting a rice diet would be what every sensible doctor would prescribe as the first step to adopting a totally gluten free diet. \n For the same reason, rice is great for relieving digestive disorders like diarrhoea, dysentery, colitis and even morning sickness. \n This is why 70% of the world, including USA and northern Canada, grows and consumes rice. \n ??? Indians cook rice with anything and everything; with lentils, veggies, meat, fish, chicken and seafood. \n In addition, they have plain or spiced rice as a bed for curries and ground rice for making all kinds of pancakes like appams and dosas. \n Rice flour is also used for crisping savouries called pakoras. \n Most temples serve as prasadam (blessings) the Indian rice pudding called kheer or payasam. \n And then in many Himalayan states, from Ladakh to Sikkim, fermented rice is used for making the potent brew called chhang. \n In this background, this rice cookbook presents a total of 35 mouth-watering rice dishes, including 20 dishes where rice cookers can be used. There are eight plain rice recipes, five for cooking rice with lentils, five each for cooking rice with vegetables and meats, five ways to use rice in snacks and seven as desserts. \n There is no Chhang recipe, sadly because that is one dish that, as Prasenjeet says, is not made in his house! \n \n **