How to cook perfect rice

A question that I am often asked when hosting a dinner party is “how do you cook your rice so perfectly?” Hence this how to make perfect rice post. What I can tell you, is that it is not as simple as it looks and I remember during my early cooking days having at least one or two bin-able rice disasters! We eat rice fairly often and my product of choice is Basmati Rice.

Ingredients:

{Serves 4-6 people}

2 Cups Basmati Rice
1litre Cold Water
1 tsp Maldon salt

Method

Begin by heating the cold water, with a dash of salt, in a pot over high heat and bring it to the boil. Meanwhile, soak the basmati rice in cold water, fill the bowl so that the water just covers the rice. Soak the rice for 8 minutes. Drain your rice in a sieve or colander and rinse under cold water.

Place the drained rice into the boiling water and partially cover, immediately lower the temperature to medium heat or simmering temperature. The key here is to not allow your rice to boil rapidly. Cook the rice over this medium-low heat for 8 minutes or until just al dente.

Remove pot from the heat and drain the rice into a rice colander. Place 500ml water into your pot and rest the colander above the water, cover and place your pot back on the stove over high heat to allow the rice to steam. Steam the rice for a further 5-6 minutes until perfectly fluffy. Serve as an accompaniment to your favourite stew or a spicy curry.