The Shed

Cook Basmati Rice in 8 minutes – put half or full a teaspoon of turmeric and some salt into a saucepan of water and bring to the boil. Add the rice to the boiling water and stir until it stops sticking to the bottom. Start a timer at the first signs of returning to the boil and simmer for exactly 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. There should be enough water that as the rice expands it is still freely moving in the water.

Drain in a metal sieve or colander after 8 minutes of simmering and flush through with cold running water. Leave to sit in the sieve/colander. 

Re heat when ready by boiling a little water in the saucepan with the sieve/colander on top. This will steam the rice and warm it up in a few minutes. The turmeric gives the rice a nice golden colour, far cheaper than using saffron, and they say that Turmeric is good for the digestion.

Basmati is THE ONLY rice for curries. It is also a low GI rice. A little extra flavour can be added by including either Cardamom seeds, or lemon grass. I have also read that adding a Rampe leaf (Pandanus) flavours the rice, but I haven’t tried that yet.