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Where's best to buy basmati / risotto rice?

OK - OH and I love basmati rice but it ain't that cheap. We've tried many own brand but nothing comes close to the Tilda brand (really fragrant). Please note if my OH doesn't like it (as much) he'll just not eat it :confused:
Can anyone suggest where to buy it a little more cheaply? Or has anyone else found a brand that they can really recommend that's cheaper? (At the moment we buy the Tilda Basmati Rice 2kg at £4.79 from tesco - it does last us though).

Plus - I love making risotto but find the rice and porcini mushrooms (:heartpuls) pretty expensive - anyone found a good cheap source for these?
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Comments

  • bigup
    bigup Posts: 358 Forumite
    I buy 10kg bag from sainsburys, think its about £14 (has extra free in the bag at the moment). Quite a good price.
  • kethry
    kethry Posts: 1,044 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    i buy my basmati rice from Aldi - i think its 79p for a kg. its not bad, i like it, and its better than the own value range. They also sell thai fragrant rice for about the same price which is pretty good, but i try not to buy it at the moment (basmati is best for the GI diet, which i'm trying to stick to).

    hope that helps..

    keth
    xx
  • Wizwoo
    Wizwoo Posts: 675 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    Thanks. The sainsbury's web site only lists a 5Kg bag at £9.49 - but that's still a good saving. I'll have a look to see if our local store has a 10 Kg bag.
    At 79p per kilo I'll give the Aldi ones a go - the thai rice may do the job.

    Anyone got any ideas on the risotto and the dried porcini mushrooms?
  • RacyRed
    RacyRed Posts: 4,930 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    If you have any Indian supermarkets localy they are usually great for basmati rice.

    Mine does 10K bags of Tilda brown basmati for about £12. White Tilda is cheaper, but I can't remember the price just now, but I think it was under £10 for a 10K bag.
    My first reply was witty and intellectual but I lost it so you got this one instead :D
    Proud to be a chic shopper
    :cool:
  • mah_jong
    mah_jong Posts: 1,284 Forumite
    Mortgage-free Glee!
    I use Lidl, they have a 10 kg bag. Its around the tenner mark.

    HTH
  • seraphina
    seraphina Posts: 1,149 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    Another huge Tilda basmati fan here - it's the only rice we use. I think it's worth the extra expense.

    It varies between a local asian grocer and tesco's as to who's the cheapest - I think we usually pay £13 odd for a 10kg bag. If we had the space I'd buy the 20kg bag!
  • npsmama
    npsmama Posts: 1,277 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    For the risotto you could ask your local healthfood shop if they would be willing to add to their next order from Infinity Foods and get in a big sack of arborio rice for you. I'm about to do this, it's orgnaic and about £29.50 for 25kg or £27 for 25kg of brown arborio. As far as I know rice doesn't go off so long as you keep it dry. You can also get 5kg bags but the savings are less.

    They also do basmati rice (organic brown fair trade, £32.59 for 25kg; or white, organic fair trade £42 for 25kg)). I get Thai rice from an oriental food specialist. It's much cheape rthan this but it's thai, not basmati)

    HTH!

    ETA to add prices
    "Finish each day And be done with it.
    You have done what you could.
    Some blunders and Absurdities have crept in.
    Forget them as soon as you can."
  • Indian supermarkets are definitely the cheapest for Tilda.

    DON'T be tempted to buy 20kg bags unless you are a really large family or VERY heavy rice eaters (or like your food mobile!) - rice normally comes complete with weevil eggs, which hatch and start to move around if you don't eat it up pretty promptly. :whistle:
    Ex board guide. Signature now changed (if you know, you know).
  • npsmama
    npsmama Posts: 1,277 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    - rice normally comes complete with weevil eggs, which hatch and start to move around if you don't eat it up pretty promptly.

    YUCK! Didn't know this! Would freezing it for 24hrs deal with the problem like it does with wheat?
    "Finish each day And be done with it.
    You have done what you could.
    Some blunders and Absurdities have crept in.
    Forget them as soon as you can."
  • DH says that weevils are so and so's to kill (he used a ruder word than that :D) and the eggs would probably survive freezing, sorry!

    How big is your freezer, if you can fit a 20kg bag of rice into it, anyway?:rotfl:
    Ex board guide. Signature now changed (if you know, you know).
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