Recipe Instructions:
Ingredients
370 g basmati rice or other long-grain rice
1 lime juice & zest
1 tsp salt
591 ml water or vegetable stock (or a combination of the two)
1/2 Tbsp olive oil or your prefered cooking oil
handful cilantro/fresh coriander
1-2 Bay leaves to add when cooking rice OPTIONAL
Instructions
Step 1: Rinse the rice.
Rinse the rice until the water runs almost clear. I like to actually do this in a large bowl, adding water, swishing the rice around with my hands, then I drain and repeat 3-4 times.
Don't omit this step as it eliminates excess starch and is important for achieving fluffy rice perfection rather than gummy yuck-ness.
Step 2: Toast the rice.
Heat the oil (or some butter) in a large pan, add the rice, and stir it to coat the granules with oil.
To add extra flavor to the cooked rice, you can lightly toast the raw rice for a few minutes (3-4) until it becomes lightly fragrant.
Step 3: Cook the rice.
Add the water (or stock/combo of both) to the pan with the salt and lime zest.
Bring the water to a boil, stir and then reduce the heat to a simmer and cover the pot with a lid. Cook for 12 minutes - don't be tempted to lift the lid at any point.
Remove the rice from the heat and allow it to steam for 10 minutes, placing a kitchen towel (quickly) between the pot and pot lid.
Thi kitchen towel will soak up the steam and stop it from condensing on the lid and falling back down onto the rice.
If, when you uncover the rice, there is still a little excess water in the pan, then quickly replace the lid and allow to steam for a couple of extra minutes. If you test a couple of rice grains and they're still slightly hard, then place the rice (with the lid on) back over low heat for a further 5 minutes - add a tablespoon or so of water if the rice is dry.
Step 4: Mix & Serve the cilantro lime rice
As the rice rests, finely chop the coriander and juice the lime. Then fluff up the rice with a fork, silicone spatula, or rice paddle and mix in the cilantro and lime juice.
Once mixed, optionally garnish with some chopped spring onion, chili flakes, jalapeno (fresh or pickled), etc., and then serve your lime-cilantro rice while warm!
