This is unquestionably the best way to cook rice- THANK YOU CONOR- JOEYS COUSIN - FROM ALL THE WAY UP THERE IN COUNTY DOWN!

People seem to struggle with rice and are amazed when they eat my rice. Can't understand why it's not soggy and sticky! Here's the secret, courtesy in part of Madhur Jaffrey!

1. The rice. Had to be the best quality basmati if you are eating Indian. I only use Tilda Basmati bought by the 10kg sack in the Asian Supermarket, Belfast.

2. Porting the rice, 250g should be enough for 4. Put the rice into a seive, rinse under cold water for a few second. Place the rice into a large bowl or saucepan and cover with cold water. Now, this one of the secrets, leave the rice in the cold water for an hour or so. Why you ask? The soaking will remove any surface starch and will soften the rice before cooking.

3. After soaking, rinse well under cold running water. Allow to drain for a few minutes.

4. Just like pasta, get a large pan with plenty of water and bring to the boil.

5. The next main secret, and the most shocking to people, is salt. You HAVE to add lots and lots of salt to the pot. I'm taking three or more table spoons of the stuff to a medium pot of water. Why so much you ask? Well, it's all to do with osmosis! The rice grains are dry and hard and contain soluble carbs. This means when rice is cooked in pure water, the grains will absorb too much water and become bloated, soggy and tasteless. The salt content in the water prevents the grains from absorbing too much water as the osmotic potential of the grains is reduced. I only got a C at A-Level biology so I may not be totally correct!

6. Cooking. Only needs a GENTLE boil with occasional stirring. Takes 9-10mins. Taste regularly. If it's over cooked by just one minute then it will be a soggy mess.

7.Once cooked pour the rice into a sieve and immediately rinse for 1-2mins with cold running water. This is critical as it removes the salty water (the rice won't absorb the salt by the way, incase you were worried!) and stops the cooking instantly. Now you can relax and concentrate on more important things like your curry and all the lovely dahls, relishes and veg!!

8. Serving: Simply boil a kettle and pour the hot water over the rice in the seive. Allow to drain for a couple minutes.

Couldn't be easier....