Herby Rice

We eat a lot of rice and as much I like plain rice, sometimes I find myself looking for ways to jazz it up a bit.  There are usually a few types of rice in my pantry – always brown rice and basmati, and sometimes you’ll find Arborio in there too.  I have been experimenting a bit with Japanese rice lately, adding various flavours before and after cooking, but this week I wanted to play around with basmati rice. I wanted something fresh; to offset a spicy curry. I came up with this little recipe for herby rice and it worked perfectly underneath our fragrant beef curry, but I think it would also make a delicious side for grilled chicken or white fish.

Herby Rice Serves 4 – as a side dish

• 200g basmati rice, rinsed
• 1 bunch spring onions, finely sliced
• 1 bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
• ½ bunch fresh chervil, roughly chopped
• pinch of salt
• 220ml hot water

Heat a splash of olive oil in a heavy based pan (make sure you use a saucepan that has a lid). Add the rice and spring onions, cook over low heat for 10 minutes, stirring so the rice doesn’t stick. Stir in the salt and most of the chopped herbs, reserving a few herbs to sprinkle in later.

Add the water and give everything a quick stir. Put the lid on the pan and cook over low heat for 15 minutes.

Remove from heat and allow to stand, covered, for 5 minutes, then stir in the remaining herbs and serve.