Most Indian kitchens wash rice two or three times before cooking, to remove starch, dust and broken grains. The tool you use decides how many grains you lose down the sink and how long it takes. There are two common types.
Perforated colander
A steel or plastic bowl with holes punched into it.
Good at: draining boiled vegetables and chana. It's sturdy, easy to scrub, and nothing gets stuck in it.
Not so good at: small grains. Punched holes are usually 2–4 mm wide, so broken rice, sona masoori, millets, rava, quinoa and small dals like masoor slip straight through. Most people end up washing rice in the cooking pot and pouring water off by hand instead.
Woven mesh strainer
Fine stainless steel wire woven into a net, like a chai channi but bigger.
Good at: holding small grains, and draining pasta. The gaps are much finer than punched holes, so rice, millets and small dals stay in while water and starch run out, and pasta drains quickly without anything slipping through. There's more open area, so water drains faster, and you can rinse directly under the tap.
Not so good at: heavy scrubbing. A mesh needs a rinse from the back after use so grains don't dry in the weave.
Quick comparison
| Perforated colander | Woven mesh strainer | |
|---|---|---|
| Small grains (rice, millets, masoor) | Often slip through | Stay in |
| Drain speed | Moderate | Fast |
| Rinse under running tap | Grains can escape | Yes |
| Cleaning | Easiest | Rinse from the back |
| Best for | Boiled vegetables, chana | Rice, dal, millets, quinoa, pasta, vegetables |
So which should you buy?
If you wash rice or dal most days, a woven mesh strainer is the better choice. It handles pasta and vegetables too, so one strainer covers almost everything. A perforated colander is still fine for larger items like boiled chana or potatoes, but it isn't the right tool for rice.
What to look for in a rice strainer
- Food-grade stainless steel, so it doesn't rust or react with food.
- A deep basket (10 cm or more), so you can swirl rice without it spilling.
- Handles, so you can hold it under the tap or rest it over the sink.
- A size that fits your family's portion, so you can wash everything in one go.
The Meshverse Rice Washing & Straining Bowl
Our rice strainer is made in India from food-grade stainless steel with a fine woven mesh. It measures 34 × 25 × 12 cm, and the 12 cm deep basket holds up to 1.5 kg of uncooked rice. It works for rice, dal, millets, vegetables and pasta, in silver or gold. ₹699, free shipping on orders of ₹999 and above.