My first try at Spanish/Mexican rice was a success! I have previously had middling results with pilaf style recipes because the rice would end up mushy. This time I combined two recipes (Recipe TinEats Mexican Red Rice and Jar of Lemons Spanish Rice and Beans), tweaked things a little, used my intuition and it worked!

I used a 1 cup rice: 2 cup liquid ratio, washed and drained the rice first, thoroughly toasted them in the oil, and used good quality basmati. Two tins of beans (RINSED - do not use the gunk in the cans) and four tablespoons of tomato paste for two cups of rice and one normal sized red capsicum, no salsa. Eyeballed the spices. Cooked the beans with the rice so they'd get a bit more flavour, hopefully.

And as Nagi says it's important to let it sit for ten minutes off the heat after cooking, before opening the lid.

I also attempted some pulled pork style jackfruit but it didn't really work and was too salty but still can be salvaged.

Et voila: