Got to say that I really fancy the sound of this - we do our rice by the absorption method so intend to do the spice frying stage as described and then after stirring in the rice, cook as we would normally with a volume of water equal to the dry volume of the rice. This is brought to the boil and then turned off on our electric cooker's hotplate and left to come off the boil naturally and then sit on the hotplate for about 20 mins. I realise this probably only works for us with our cooker but we have got used to it over the years and the rice swells beautifully and finishes neither too 'grainy' or too soft.

Looking forward to it. Will try and remember to post up the results!

Steve.