Orange Raisin and Almond Rice

It doesn't take much to dickey up a bit of rice, but what a difference it makes when it's pleasing to the eye and not just a plain bed of white. An orange, a couple of onions, a few hard boiled eggs and a sprinkling of nuts and raisins and you have something quite amazing!

Ingredients:

60ml ghee
2 large onions sliced in rings
seeds from 2 cardamom pods
2 sticks cinnamon
4 cloves
500ml long grain rice or basmati rice
250ml fresh orange juice
freshly shredded zest from 1 orange
1 litre of chicken stock
125ml blanched and sliced almonds
60ml raisins
3 eggs, hard boiled and sliced

Method:

Heat the ghee and fry the onion rings until they are a pale golden brown. Drain and set aside. In the same ghee, fry the almonds and raisins. Drain and set aside. Add the cardamom seeds, cinnamon and cloves to the pan and fry for about 1 minute then remove from the heat and stir in the dry rice, orange juice, half of the orange rind and the chicken stock.

Return to the stove and bring to the boil, lower the heat, cover and simmer until all the liquid has been absorbed - about 25 minutes. Toss in the fried onion rings, almonds and raisins and garnish with the sliced hard boiled eggs and the remaining orange zest.