Basmati Rice

One US cup of basmati rice weighs 180 grams. Going the other way, 100 grams is about 0.56 cups.

Also called basmati, white basmati, long grain basmati, indian basmati, pakistani basmati, aromatic long grain rice.

TL;DR: Basmati rice runs 180 grams per cup dry across major producer labels, with USDA's generic long-grain figure of 185 sitting just above; the small gap reflects basmati's longer, slimmer grains and lower moisture from post-harvest aging.

Basmati is an aromatic long-grain rice from the Indian subcontinent, distinguished by elongated grains (typically 6.6-8.4 mm before cooking, elongating to two or more times that length when cooked) and a pandan-like aroma from 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline. Producer nutrition labels converge tightly on 180 g/cup dry: Tilda, Royal, Mahatma, and Lundberg all publish 45 g per 1/4 cup, which is genuine multi-brand convergence at exactly the same figure across production in India, Pakistan, and California. The USDA Global Branded record for Whole Foods 365 Indian Basmati (UPC 085239053348) lands at the same 180 g/cup, matching the direct-label cluster.

USDA Standard Reference for generic raw long-grain white rice (FDC 169756) lists 185 g/cup, 2.8% above the basmati cluster. That gap has two structural explanations. First, traditional basmati is aged one to two years before milling to reduce moisture from the ~14% typical of freshly milled long-grain to ~11-12% — the same volume of aged basmati contains less water and therefore weighs slightly less. Second, basmati grains have a higher length-to-width ratio (roughly 4:1) than generic long-grain (roughly 3:1), which produces marginally more inter-grain void space when scooped into a cup. Both effects push in the same direction and their combined magnitude accounts for the observed 3% gap.

USDA Branded records show wider spread than direct producer labels. The Great Value White Basmati (UPC 015400132305) sits at 196 g/cup — 8.9% above the cluster, within milled tolerance but notable. Two Branded UPCs fall outside tolerance and are excluded from the published figure: a 365 basmati variant (UPC 085239406649) at 208 g/cup and a Kroger basmati (UPC 011110840530) at 142 g/cup. The 208 figure is 15.6% above cluster and may reflect a different product identity (parboiled, sella, or a fine-cracked grade) sold under a generic basmati label. The 142 figure is 21% below cluster and appears to be either a serving-convention error or a distinct product mislabeled under the basmati name; no plausible physical mechanism puts genuine dry basmati that low.

King Arthur Baking does not publish basmati rice, or any specific rice variety other than a single cooked-rice entry. Cooked and dry are different foods — hydrated grains have absorbed water — so no conversion between the two is possible without a source telling you which was measured. There is no KA correction opportunity here, just an absence to fill.

For practical use, treat basmati as 180 g/cup dry within the major-producer set (Tilda, Royal, Mahatma, Lundberg). When scaling by weight, this figure holds within the 5% variance most home baking tolerates. Cook basmati by absorption at a 1:1.5 rice-to-water ratio as most producer instructions specify, rather than the 1:2 that generic long-grain calls for — basmati absorbs less water because the drier aged grain has less bound water competing with the added liquid. If you rinse before cooking (recommended for authentic Indian preparation), the dry weight applies before rinsing; water clinging to rinsed grains adds to the cook water, not to the grain mass.

The following published figures for basmati rice are rejected here, with the physics or standards reasoning behind each rejection on its own page:

• USDA Branded (365 Basmati Rice variant): 208 g per cup
• USDA Branded (Kroger Basmati Rice): 142 g per cup