Rice
Unless you use easy cook rice, which has a bland taste in my opinion, then you will probably cook rice in the traditional English 'pasta style'. Boil the rice and drain through a seive. You probably find that Basmati and Longgrain rice turns out with a slightly firm texture. This is caused by the middle of the grains of rice not being cooked properly. The flavour and texture is compromised. I know of two methods of cooking rice properly (without a rice cooker):
MICROWAVE:
Wash the rice to remove any dirt and grit. this also serves to wash out excess starch, which will cause the rice to boil over. Use a pyrex dish with a lid, and fill with water up to about half the hight of the rice again, i.e. if you had 2cm of rice in the bottom of the dish, fill water 1cm higher than the top of the rice. This is only a rough guideline, but it works for smaller portions (2 - 4 portions). I have not tried larger portions than that because I cook for myself and a couple of friends at most. Try slightly different amounts of water to suit your tatse.
Microwave the rice on full power (do not stop or stir the rice) until all the water has boiled away. You have to watch the last stage carefully otherwise you could end up burning the rice. As soon as the water has boiled away(this is where the glass dish comes in handy), stop the microwave and take the rice out. Put the lid quickly on. Leave to stand for about 10 minutes. This standing stage is very important - and it is this stage that is missed out from the pasta method of cooking. This final 10 minutes continues to cook the rice in it's own steam.
HOB:
Follow the above instructions except that you must use a pan with a lid (preferably with a steam hole). Boil the rice on the hob until dry. You will again have to watch the final stage very carefully. It has boiled dry when holes have appeared in the rice, and you can see only a little bubbling in the holes. Once again, turn off all the heat and put the lid on, letting the rice stand for about 10 minutes. With electric hobs, it is especially important that you DO NOT STIR the rice. if this is done, the little remaining water will not be at the bottom of the pan, and the residual heat in the hob will burn the bottom of the rice. If you wait too long before turning the hob off, you will start to hear a frying sound. This is your rice beginning to burn.
ADJUSTING WATER:
Once you have cooked rice using these methods, you will probably not get the perfect bowl of rice. Why? Because it takes a little practise and eye judgement. You cannot put down exact times and methods for cooking. If your rice was too stodgy, you put too much water in it. If your rice was too dry and hard you put too little water in it. If the bottom of the rice was hard, dry and a little too brown, then you left the heat on too long. I think I can safely say that within 3 tries, you will have a very nicely done pot of rice.