Don't Sweat the Aubergine

of roast meat in sunflower or olive oil. Add some chopped onion and/or garlic, and/or green or red peppers, if you like, and continue cooking until the onions are golden and the peppers are softened. Stir in cooked rice. Season to taste. Cooked fresh or frozen peas are a nice addition. Mushrooms, too – softened with the onions and peppers. You might also try lardons of pancetta, or bacon, instead of the cooked meat. I like to have chilli sauce on the table; others might prefer soy, or ketchup.
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WHY YOU DO IT
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    Method 1 is the boiled rice prevalent in Indian cuisine. We’re often told that the ‘absorption method’ – 2 and 3, above – is the way to guarantee separate, unsticky grains. In my experience, it is not so easy to manage. Certain rices (including Tesco’s basmati, I have found) become sticky more readily than others, and, unless you judge the timing water/rice ratio to absolute perfection, will settle in the pan as compacted lumps. Provided you get the timing right, boiling is foolproof.
    However, it is not ideal. The more water you use to cook rice or vegetables, the more nutrients you lose from them. Boiled rice is less fragrant or tasty than rice cooked by the absorption method.
    1 • Salt . Some people insist that you should never use salt when cooking rice. The edict appears to be a matter of taste rather than of science: I have never known salt produce any ill-effects on the cooked grains. Raising the boiling temperature of water, salt may speed the cooking process.
    2 • Ten minutes . I am amazed at the number of recipes that tell you to cook basmati rice for 20 minutes or longer. I have yet to find a brand that is not ready in 10 minutes. Ordinary, less delicate and fragrant long-grain rice may take longer. Overcooked rice will be sticky.
    Methods 2 and 3 are both versions of the absorption method. The rice boils for a while, until it has absorbed the water; then it steams, a process that completes the cooking and, in theory, separates the grains.
    3 • No pre-washing or soaking . The rice you buy in packets is clean. It’s harmless. In the US (though not in the UK), most of it is better for you in an unwashed state, because manufacturers coat it with vitamins that washing would disperse.
    The one reason you might want to wash rice is to get rid of the polishing dust that is sometimes still present, and that turns into gum on cooking. But many brands do not require this treatment: Tilda, for example, tells me that its rice leaves the factory dust-free. A reason you might be
told
to wash rice is to rinse away the starch. If you do that, you will not have much food left: starch makes up about 80 per cent of a rice grain.
    Having said that, I should add that I usually give my rice a quick rinse. Superstition, I suppose.
    4 • How much water will my rice absorb? The 2:1 ratio usually works for me, and seems to give me enough water for the method I describe, which involves about 5 minutes of boiling, in an uncovered pan, 5 more minutes of boiling/steaming in a covered pan, and a further 5 minutes of steaming in a covered pan with the heat turned off. But I cannot be dogmatic about it. The size and quality of your pan, the temperature of your hob, the hardness of your water, and, most importantly, the quality of your rice are all factors that will affect the absorption rate.
    Do not expect the packet instructions to be reliable. Following the instructions on a packet of basmati rice I bought in France, I cooked the rice in three times its volume of water: that proved to be far too much. In
The Cook’s Encyclopaedia
, Tom Stobart writes: ‘I once bought a very costly Saudi Arabian variety of rice from a Bedouin trader and found to my amazement that it absorbed no less than nine times its volume of water and would not cook properly with any less.’ So, if you are tempted to buy rice from a Bedouin trader rather than from the local corner store, be warned.
    However, the 3:1 ratio works if you boil the rice. Bring the water to a simmer, tip in the rice, return to a simmer, and cook for 10 minutes. By this time, the water will probably be level with the surface of the rice. Drain the water that is left. Hold the rice, if necessary, by returning it to the pan, and covering it.
    5 • Soaking . Soaking elongates the rice grain, softening it and allowing water to penetrate more easily. ‘This means that the grains don’t break up in the pan, and therefore don’t stick to each other,’