This recipe takes a lot of spices. I get them at the “bulk” spice section at Down To Earth, where you can buy a small amount at a time. This lets you get fresh spices and keeps the price down.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups basmati rice (get this in bulk at Down To Earth)

1 TBS vegetable oil

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 tsp fennel seeds

1 TBS sesame seeds

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp salt

2 whole cloves

3 cardamom pods, lightly crushed

6 black peppercorns

1 3/4 cups veggie chicken broth

Instructions:

1. Rinse rice in several changes of cold water. Set in a bowl and add cold water to cover. Let stand 30 minutes, then drain.
2. In a medium heavy saucepan, heat oil over medium heat and fry onion and garlic until onion is soft, about 2 minutes.
3. Stir in the fennel, sesame seeds, turmeric, cumin, salt, cloves, cardamom pods, and peppercorns. Fry until fragrant, another 2 minutes.
4. Add drained rice and fry while stirring, until rice is opaque, another 2 minutes. Pour in broth and bring to a boil.
5. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer until rice is tender and liquid absorbed, 15–20 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes.