Jeera rice

Serves four Ingredients:

300g basmati rice 2 tbsp clarified butter 2 tbsp of sunflower oil 1 tsp cumin seeds 1-2 stick of cinnamon 5 whole peppercorns 1 medium onion,finely diced salt to taste between 800-900ml of boiling water

Method:

Wash the basmati rice in cold water gently two to three times to eliminate any excess starch.

Then soak the basmati rice in cold water, enough to cover it completely. Leave aside for 20 minutes or so.

In the meantime, heat the clarified butter along with the sunflower oil in a heavy bottomed pot. Once the clarified butter has melted and starts to shimmer, add the cinnamon sticks and the cumin seeds. Let them brown and then add the peppercorns.

Drain the rice in a small holed colander.

Add the finely chopped onions to the pot and stir, let them turn golden brown. Add the drained rice and gently stir the rice so that each grain is coated with the clarified butter or sunflower oil mixture. Add salt to taste before adding the boiling water. At this point just add enough to cover the rice by about 1 cm above the top of the rice. Bring to the boil and then lower the heat to a simmer.

Cover the pot with a lid and leave for about five-six minutes. Check the rice after this time to see if it has absorbed all the water and how far it has cooked. If the rice is cooked, then turn off the heat and cover the lid to let the steam keep it warm. Otherwise add a little more boiling water and keep the rice covered to let it finish off cooking in the steam.

Run a fork through the rice to loosen the grains before serving alongside a curry you like.