Fragrant Rice with Cashew Nuts

Generally speaking I dont do rice, due to the number of times I've tried to eat either half cooked rice or overcooked rice. But I found this recipe, which has undergone a slight modification, in Rice by Christine Ingram. A cookery book I've got to have had for at least five years. Haha! One of the variety that I bought, but have never used. I'm re-looking at all my cookery books at the moment, and finding a fair few suprises, which I obviously overlooked first time round


1 pint of chicken stock
1 oz butter
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/2 cinnomon stick
6 green cardomon pods
9 oz basmati rice
2 oz sultanas
1 tbsp sunflower oil
2 oz cashew nuts

Heat the butter in a saucepan and fry the onion and garlic for around 5 minutes
Stir in the cinnamon stick, and cardomons, frying for a further couple of minutes
Add the rice, fry for a further couple of minutes, stirring all the time
Pour in the stock and add the sultanas
Bring to the boil, stir, then lower the heat to a gentle simmer, cover with pan-lid, and cook for a further ten minutes, or untill all the liquid has been absorbed
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the cashew nuts until browned, drain on kitchen paper
Scatter the cashew nuts over a plate on a serving dish

Cooks Note: this is a good basic rice dish that lends itself to modification