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Ingredients
250gbasmati rice
160gbutter
1onionfinely diced
1cinnamon stick
2 bay leaves
6Cardamom podslightly crushed so they split open
4cloves
3sprigsthyme
2whole star anis
1tspfine salt
600mlvegetable or chicken stock
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 170C fan
You’ll need a heatproof pot that can go from stove top to oven. Ideally a pot that has a lid which you will use at the end to steam the rice once it's out of the oven. Cut out a cartouche (disc of baking parchment cut to size so that it will sit on top of the rice in the pot)
Put the rice in a sieve and give it a good rinse under cold water, agitating it with your fingers to wash off as much starch as possible and the water runs clear.
Cube 60g of the butter and keep in the fridge
Chop the onion. Melt 100g of the butter on a low heat and add the onions, cinnamon, star anis, cardamom, cloves, bay leaves and thyme. Sweat the onions until soft. Turn the heat up add the rice and salt. Coat everything in the butter and add the stock. Bring it to a simmer, place the cartouche on the rice and put in the oven for 20 minutes.
Remove from the oven take the baking parchment off, all of the whole spices and herbs will have drifted to the top, carefully remove the spices and herbs. Tip in the chilled butter, fork through the rice and season to taste. Put the pot lid on and leave to steam for a further 5-10minutes.