I normally only buy basmati rice in bags that are transparent, that allow the buyer to see what they are getting. The rice always looks clean and free of bugs. The only problem is that these bags are sold in a two pound size.

At various Indian grocery stores I have been to, I have seen basmati rice sold in ten pound and larger sized bags, but the bags to not allow the buyer to see the content. Even some supermarkets near where I live are now selling five pound bags of such rice.

What would you do, if you opened the bag and found bugs crawling through the rice? (At times, I have found that flour I have kept for too long inevitably contain small live creatures moving around. It leads me to believe that there were eggs in that flour all the time, just waiting to hatch.) Wouldn't the bagged rice be susceptible to the same problem? At least with the smaller bags, packed in transparent bags APPEAR to be clean, free of any bugs.

Hello Felafelboy

Basmati and other rice varieties often get tiny, whitish bugs that look like miniature caterpillars. They do no harm. When you wash the rice, they float to the top and a few changes of water gets rid of them completely. You are right, rice probably has these eggs laid before being harvested, though I couldn?t find any reference to it on the web.

The thing with good rice is that it has to be a year (or longer) old. In India, last year's rice is always considered better than the new produce of the year. It is saved for special occasions/guests. Storing rice invariably makes it get these tiny 'crawleys' and sometimes tiny brown insects that look like bigger versions of head lice. They too float out when rice is washed. You won't necessarily see the bugs through the clear plastic bags anyway, so do not worry, just make sure you wash it well.

It is the same with the flour, sometimes in relatively fresh flour. The only difference is that unlike rice, old flour is no good, the fresher the better. I have never come across it here, but my mum habitually used to sieve the flour every day before making dough. This was even when she had her own wheat grain ground at the local mill every few weeks. She cleaned (to pick out stones/twigs/straw), washed and dried the wheat before having it ground, but still got the bugs! Probably they grew faster in Indian heat!

?I have found that flour I have kept for too long inevitably contain small live creatures moving around.? Next time, do not throw it, just wash it! It is good rice, not to be thrown away.

Mamta