Instructions: Two methods. The first thing to say about rice is that easy cook has very little strach on the outside of the grains, so tends to stay separate. On the other hand, it hasnt much flavour. Tradional polished rices such as Basmati have great flavour but the starch on the grains makes them stick a little. Try washing all traditional rice in cold water through a seive before cooking it.

Method One: Boil a kettle of water, and a saucepan filled to a depth of around 3 inches. When the saucepan water is boiling, add half a teaspoon of salt, add a cup or rice per person then agitate vigorously with the handle of a wooden spoon. What you are doing is getting the starch into suspension in the water, so it turns milky. Keep stirring until you are certain none of the grains has clumped. Now cover and simmer very gently, checking the water regularly. If the rice begin to appear at the surface, pour another half-inch of boiling water over it from the kettle, and stir with the spoon handle again. Good rice takes about 8 minutes to cook until it still has bite. Drain it at this point through a colander, rinsing with water from the kettle if it seems sticky, and then set the colander over your saucepan with a little boiling water in it. Use the saucepan lid to cover. Keep it hot for two or three minutes, then serve it.

Method two: Some rices can also be cooked in a minimum amount of water, allowing the water to boil away at the point at which the rice is cooked.

This is tricky, but if you use the same rice every time, you will eventually get the timing spot on.

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