Asian rice is the staple of South and East Asia. In Tamil the growing plant and unhusked grain are nel, the husked grain is arisi, and cooked rice is soru. It was first domesticated in the Yangtze valley of China around nine thousand years ago, and the indica rices of India developed as it mixed with local wild rice. India is the world’s largest rice exporter, and Thai Pongal celebrates the rice harvest in Tamil Nadu.
- Botanical name
- Oryza sativa L.
- Family
- Poaceae
- Tamil
- Nel
- Hindi
- Chawal
- Sanskrit
- Vrīhi
- Parts used
- Grain after cooking, Bran and straw as by-products
- Habit
- Asian rice; the plant is nel and the grain is arisi
- Last updated
- 2026-10-30
How to recognise Nel
It is a tufted annual grass, usually knee- to waist-high, that sends up many shoots, or tillers, from the base.
The leaves are long and flat, with a long, pointed ligule and small, hairy, ear-like flaps where the blade meets the stem.
The flower head is a loose panicle that droops as the grains fill.
Each spikelet holds a single grain wrapped in a tough, ridged husk, sometimes with a bristle at the tip.
Barnyard grass, a common paddy weed, looks similar when young but has no ligule at all.
Traditional use of Nel
Kitchen
Tamil Nadu commonly eats puzhungal arisi, parboiled rice, which is soaked and steamed in the husk before milling.
Tamil food practice
Festival
At Thai Pongal in January new rice is boiled with milk and jaggery until it overflows the pot.
Tamil festival practice
Farming
Seedlings are raised in a nursery and transplanted by hand into flooded, puddled fields.
South and East Asian farm practice
Modern notes on Nel
Parboiling drives thiamine from the bran into the grain, which is why polished white rice diets once caused beriberi while parboiled rice diets did not.
Flooded paddies release methane, a greenhouse gas, and methods such as alternate wetting and drying cut it.
Rice takes up arsenic from flooded soils more than most crops, especially in parts of Bengal.
Semi-dwarf varieties such as IR8, released in 1966, drove the Green Revolution in Asian rice.
Nel safety
Cooked rice left warm for hours can grow Bacillus cereus, which causes food poisoning, so cool leftovers quickly and refrigerate them. Rinsing rice and cooking it in extra water that is drained off lowers arsenic.
Ecology and sourcing
Its wild ancestor, Oryza rufipogon, grows in marshes from India to southern China.
Rice is mostly self-pollinating.
Paddy fields support frogs, fish, birds and dragonflies when not heavily sprayed.
Related plants
Also in Poaceae
Questions about Nel
What is the difference between nel and arisi?
Nel is the plant or paddy; arisi is husked rice.
What is parboiled rice?
Rice steamed in the husk before milling.
Is brown rice a different variety?
No. It is rice with the bran left on.
Is basmati a separate species?
No. It is a group of aromatic Oryza sativa varieties.
Is rice gluten-free?
Yes.
Sources
- Oryza sativa L. — Plants of the World Online, Kew (search) (accessed 2026)
- Wikidata item Q161426 (Oryza sativa)
Educational page about a plant. It is not medical advice, not a diagnosis, and not an offer to sell. Traditional use is historical. If you need care, ask a licensed clinician. Questions: hello@meevamed.com.