Mexican Red Rice with Tomato, Peas and Carrots

Rinse and dry the rice. Wash the rice in plenty of cold water, swishing it through with your fingers until the water runs almost clear. Drain well, then spread it out on the tea towel to dry for at least 5 minutes. Rice that's properly dry toasts evenly in the next step rather than steaming in its own dampness.

Soften the onion and garlic. Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in the saucepan over medium-high heat, add the onion and cook for 3-5 minutes until soft, then add the garlic for a final 30 seconds. Lift the onion and garlic out with the slotted spoon, leaving the oil behind in the pan, since you only want their flavour going into the sauce, not more oil.

Blend the sauce smooth. Add the onion and garlic to the blender with 60ml of the stock, the tomatoes and the salt, and blend until completely smooth. A fully smooth sauce coats the rice evenly later rather than leaving uneven patches of colour and flavour.

Toast the rice. Add the remaining 1 tbsp oil to the pan over medium-high heat, then add the rice and cook for 5-8 minutes, stirring often, until it turns golden and smells toasty. Toasting roasts the surface starch on each grain, which is what keeps the finished rice light and separate instead of clumping together.

Simmer in the tomato sauce. Pour in the blended tomato sauce, which will splutter as it hits the hot pan, then stir and simmer for 3-5 minutes until it thickens noticeably. This short simmer cooks off some of the raw tomato edge before the rice takes on the bulk of the liquid.

Add stock and vegetables. Pour in the remaining 300ml stock and stir gently just once, then add the chilli and scatter the carrot and peas over the top without stirring them in. Bring to the boil, cover, turn the heat to medium-low and cook for 12-18 minutes, until no liquid is visible on the surface and the rice smells fully cooked. Leaving the vegetables undisturbed on top means they steam gently in the rising heat rather than sinking in and turning the rice patchy or breaking up the grains underneath.

Rest off the heat. Take the pan off the heat and leave it covered, without stirring, for 10-20 minutes. This resting time lets the last of the moisture absorb evenly through the grains so the base isn't wet while the top is still dry.

Fluff and serve. Fluff the rice through with a fork, folding the peas and carrots in as you go, and lift out the chilli if you'd rather not serve it. Serve with the coriander scattered over and the lime wedges alongside for squeezing. The fresh lime cuts through the richness of the toasted rice and tomato.