Yes—your coworker is right that rice can be boiled in plenty of water, drained, and come out with tender, separate grains. It works much like cooking pasta: stop cooking when the rice reaches the texture you want, then drain it. Rice producer [Tilda describes both this method and the absorption method](https://www.tilda.com/en-nz-foodservice/blog/tips-advice/secret-to-cooking-perfect-rice/).

The distinction is usually **excess-water cooking versus absorption cooking**:

- **Boil and drain:** Cook in ample water, then discard the remaining liquid. Some released starch leaves with that water, which can help keep the grains separate.
- **Absorption cooking**, often called “steaming”: Cook with a measured amount of water in a covered pot. The rice initially cooks in simmering water; it finishes and rests in the moist, steamy pot. The released starch stays with the rice.

True steaming means cooking rice above the water in a steamer; that is a third method.

**Too much water alone doesn’t make rice into pudding.** Cooking it long enough for the grains to soften and break down produces that result. With the drain method, you remove the water while the grains still have the texture you want. Rice variety also matters: basmati naturally produces more separate grains than sticky rice.

To try it, simmer basmati in a generous pot of water, taste periodically, and drain as soon as it is tender. Let it stand for about five minutes, then fluff it. You can get fluffy rice with either method; the amount of water mainly changes how you manage the cooking.