Serves: 4
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cup short grain white rice
2 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup almonds, peeled
1 1/2 cup tap water
salt, pepper, baharat
optional: red meat (mince, flakes, cubes – your choice); or a variety of vegetables, such as slices of carrot
Method:
Soak the rice for no less than an hour.
Blanch the peas in a pot on medium-high heat for 10 minutes.
When ready, drain and leave aside.
Drain the rice and add into a clean non-stick tefal pot.
Add a very fine drizzle of oil and stir through the rice on medium-high heat for a couple of minutes.
Next add the peas and stir in.
Add about 1 and a half cups of tap water – or enough to immerse the rice by about a centimetre.
Add salt to the pot – the saltiness should be what you’d normally eat, about 2 tbs.
Leave uncovered on high heat until it boils.
Cover the pot and reduce the heat to low. Cook for 30 minutes (or until rice is done), stirring a few times throughout.
When ready, turn off the stove but leave the rice in there until you’re ready to serve.
Next, roast some almonds in a pan, on low heat, with a few tablespoons of oil.
When golden, remove from the pan and leave aside.
Optional: if you have some red meat that’s sitting in the fridge, you can use this to add onto the dish. Chunks of chicken (breast/thigh or drumstick) works just as well. The one I have on the plate is of the neck/shoulder. The whole thing was boiled in water, washed, then reboiled with a heap of spices (cardamom, cinnamon, bay leaves, nutmeg, baharat, peppercorns, salt, ground pepper, cloves, star anise). Then it was cooked in a pressure cooker for 30 minutes (with the spices, still). I took the meat off the bone and used it where needed – although you can serve the entire neck as if it were a roast with veggies, etc.
To do mince meat: cook in a pan with baharat, salt and pepper until well done. Leave aside until serving time.
Mince meat inside the rice: cook in a pan with salt and spices, add the peas to the meat when it’s medium-done. Stir through for a minute, then add to the rice 15 minutes after it’s been left to cook on low heat.
To do the vegetables: line the bottom of the pot with the carrot before cooking the rice. When ready, turn the whole thing upside down onto a serving plate. Or you can separately cook the vegetables and add on top.
To dish up, place the rice on a serving plate (can serve individually), top with the meat (or chicken; or veggies), cover with the roasted almonds. Dust with baharat and pepper.
Serve with fatoosh, salad or a yoghurt salad.
Devour!
Modest for looks, yet royal for taste…
Looks like a great meal!
My kind of meal, rice and veggies!
Mmm this meat looks fabulous! Love the addition of almonds to the meal.