Vegetables & Rice in Miso Broth

My TikTok account is mostly saved recipes (plus veg growing and travel), and recently a series of miso rice dishes.

These recipes seem to cook the rice together with the vegetables, but a quicker option is to use leftover rice and vegetables.

Serves 1

150g High Fibre Brown Rice

Handful of cooked vegetables & pulses.  This bowl had leftover chickpeas, air fryer roasted butternut squash, air fryer roasted kale.  I have made other bowls with fried mushrooms and spinach/Swiss chard.

1 tbsp miso paste

500ml just boiled water

Seasoning/flavouring (optional) - soy sauce, sesame oil, chilli oil, chilli flakes, finely grated garlic, finely grated ginger, kimchi

In a small pan, pour the boiling water over the rice and vegetables.  Dissolve the miso paste into the hot water.  Bring to the boil.  Simmer for two minutes, then serve.

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Jollof Rice & Beans

Jollof Rice & Beans is an easy, cheap, nutritious plant based one pan dish.

Jollof Rice is a spicy West African dish of rice, tomatoes, chillis, onions, spices, often served with a meat stew.  To add more protein and fibre to the rice I had the idea to add beans, similar to Caribbean Rice & Peas.

All recipes online use Scotch Bonnet chillis, so use one or two if you want a more genuine flavour, but beware these are very hot!

And I highly recommend Afrizi, an African restaurant in Festival Place in Basingstoke to try 'proper' Jollof rice and other West African dishes.  

Here is my take...

Serves a greedy 4

1 large onion, peeled and roughly chopped

2 large cloves of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped

2 red peppers, deseeded and roughly chopped

1 tbsp rosemary, dried or fresh

1 tbsp thyme, dried or fresh

2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp hot chilli powder 

1/2 carton passata

2 tbsp light olive oil

1 mug basmati rice

2 cans of mixed beans in water (or kidney, pinto, black beans)

Recently boiled water

1 vegetable stock cube 

2 bay leaves

Liquidise the onion, garlic, peppers, rosemary, thyme, coriander, chilli powder, and passata.

Heat the oil in a shallow casserole dish.

Carefully pour in the blended sauce, bring to the boil, then turn down to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

After 5 minutes, stir in the rice into the sauce and drain the liquid into the mug.  Top the mug up with recently boiled water, pour over the rice plus another 1/2 mug of hot water, the crumbled stock cube and bay leaves.  

Stir everything in, sprinkle over the beans, cover, and bring to the boil. 

Turn down to the lowest heat and cook for 20 minutes.

Stir in the beans and sauce that will have risen to the top during cooking and serve.

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Prawn & Pea Risotto

Prawn & Pea Risotto is a simple dish with big flavour for only a few ingredients.  Frozen prawns and peas make this an easy quick supper.

Serves 4

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 large onion, peeled & finely diced

1 large clove of garlic, peeled and crushed

1 small glass of white wine (optional)

300g risotto rice

2 fish or chicken stock cubes

1 litre recently boiled water

250g frozen prawns

Large pinch of chilli flakes (optional)

Chopped parsley (optional)

Freshly grated parmesan (optional)

Heat the olive oil in a heavy based pan over a medium heat.

Sweat the chopped onion for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft but not coloured.

Stir in the risotto rice and garlic into the onions.  Pour in the wine, and stir until evaporated away.

Add a ladleful of hot water and the crumbled stock cubes, stirring until evaporated and the stock cubes have completely dissolved.  Keep adding one ladle of hot water at a time, and stirring until evaporated.  Halfway through the hot water add the frozen prawns, and then continue adding the ladles of hot water.  After about 25-30 minutes the rice is tender but not mushy.

Stir in the frozen peas and chilli flakes, turn off the heat, cover with a lid and rest for 5 minutes.

Serve with a topping of chopping parsley and parmesan if wished.

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High Fibre Brown Rice

Everyone's talking about the benefits of eating more fibre.  It's good for your digestive health, heart health (lowering cholesterol and blood pressure), blood sugar control, weight management (increased fullness), reduces the risk of certain cancers, promotes a healthy gut microbiome, and reduces inflammation. 

Brown rice has more fibre than white rice, and I've added to this with lentils and quinoa.  The quantities below make about 8 150g servings.  This week I've been eating with vegetable curry, oily fish, and in soup.

1 cup brown rice

1/2 cup puy lentils

1/4 cup quinoa

Simmer everything for 25-30 minutes in a pan with at least double the volume of boiling water in a pan that seals well.  

Season after cooking otherwise the lentils don't go tender.

Divide into portions and freeze until needed.

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Sweet & Sour Fried Rice

Knocked up a quick pescatarian (could be vegan if made with vegetarian oyster sauce) Sweet & Sour Fried Rice which I thought would make a great student meal.  Preparing the vegetables probably takes longer than the stir frying.

You will need a large wok to cook and stir this stir fry successfully.

Serves a greedy 4

500g cooked white or brown rice

400g block of firm tofu, grated 

2 medium carrots, grated 

Half a sweetheart cabbage, shredded

1 small onion, peeled and sliced into half-moons or a bunch of spring onions, chopped into 1cm pieces

4 rings tinned pineapple, chopped into 1cm pieces (optional)

2cm root ginger, finely chopped

2 large garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped

2 tbsp vegetable oil

6 tbsp tomato ketchup

4 tbsp sweet chilli sauce

4 tbsp (vegetarian) oyster sauce

4 tbsp light soy sauce

1/2 tsp hot chilli flakes

If you don't have any cooked rice, cook a large mug of basmati rice before you start.  It only takes 20 minutes, whilst you prepare the vegetables.

Grate/chop the tofu, vegetables, ginger & garlic, pineapple.  Put them on separate plates as they are stir fried at different times.

Heat the oil in a large wok over a high heat until smoking.  Add the tofu and stir fry until you can see it start to go golden brown in places.

Push the tofu to one side as best you can and tip in the vegetables, ginger & garlic, and chilli flakes.  Push the tofu on top the vegetables so the vegetables are in contact with the hot pan.  Leave for a minute or so and then start stir frying.  After a minute or so of stir frying add in about 50ml of water to the wok to help the vegetables steam and soften, whilst still stir frying.

When the vegetables are softened to your liking, turn down the heat to medium and stir in the rice and the sauce ingredients.  Add a little water if the rice and sauce starts sticking to the wok.

Serve when piping hot

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Beetroot Risotto

I peeled one more beetroot than I needed to make Borscht yesterday, so decided to make myself a Beetroot Risotto for dinner.

Most recipes call for roasted beetroot to be added once the risotto rice is cooked.  I neither had the time nor the inclination to roast one solitary beetroot so I added raw beetroot right at the start, hence the orangey rather than purpley red hue to the risotto. 

An additional benefit of cooking the beetroot with rice is that it mellows the earthy taste of beetroot which might make it more palatable to those less sure of beetroot.

Serves 2

180g risotto rice

1 small onion, peeled and diced

1 large clove of garlic, peeled and crushed

500ml hot vegetable stock

50ml white wine (optional)

1 medium raw beetroot, peeled and grated

1 large handful of chopped rainbow chard, shredded or baby spinach (optional)

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

50g crumbled feta, grated parmesan, or extra mature cheddar (optional)

Soften the onion in the olive oil over a medium high heat. 

Once softened and translucent, stir in the rice and garlic and coat the rice grains in the oil.

Stir in the grated beetroot and any chopped chard stalks.

Pour in the wine if using, or roughly 100ml of the hot vegetable stock.  Bring the wine or stock to the boil and turn down to a rapid simmer.

Stir pretty much constantly with a wooden spoon.  Once you can see the bottom of the pan for a few seconds when the wooden spoon is dragged across the centre of the pan, add in another 100ml of stock.

Keep stirring the risotto, and adding more stock when needed, until all the stock has been added.  When you can see the bottom of the pan again, taste the rice to see if it is cooked.  If it is soft like al dente pasta it is cooked. If it is crunchy in the middle of the grain it needs more cooking.

If the rice needs more cooking, add another 100ml of just boiled water from the kettle and keep stirring as before.

If the rice is cooked, stir in shredded chard/spinach and cheese if using, cover, and turn off the heat and leave for 5 minutes to wilt the spinach and melt the cheese.

Serve immediately

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One Pan Salmon Biryani

A simple but flavour packed one pan Salmon Biryani.  If you don't have the individual spices listed in the recipe below, you can always use curry paste.  

Defrosted cooked prawns can be used instead of salmon, and a vegan version can be make with 2 cans of drained chickpeas instead of salmon or prawns.

Serves 6

500g boneless salmon fillet joint cut into 4 fillets, or 4 boneless salmon fillets

250g baby spinach leaves 

1 large mug (300g) basmati rice

2 medium onions, peeled and thinly sliced

2 cm fresh ginger, finely grated

2 large garlic cloves

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 vegetable stock cube, crumbled

Recently boiled water

4 tbsp mild curry paste (only if not using the dried spices listed below)

1 heaped tsp cumin seeds

5 green cardamom pods

1/2 tsp hot chilli flakes

1 tbsp garam masala

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp dried mint 

2 bay leaves

In a large casserole dish with a well fitting lid, fry the onions gently in the oil over a medium low heat, stirring from time to time until golden. This takes about 20 minutes, giving you time to assemble the other ingredients.

When the onions are golden, add all the dried spices if using. Stir the spices in well then add the garlic and ginger.  Add the curry paste now if using and stir in.

Weigh the rice into a large mug and note where it comes up to inside the mug.  Add the rice to the pan, then pour in 1 & 3/4 mugs of recently boiled water, so the water comes 1cm above the level of the rice.  As this is a little hard to see with the spices or curry paste colouring the water, the dry end of a wooden spoon works well as a level indicator.  Crumble in the stock cube and mix in well.

Cover the rice with the baby spinach leaves, and then lay the salmon skin side up on top of the spinach.  Put the lid on the pan and bring to the boil, then turn the heat down to the lowest and cook for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes remove the lid and peel off the salmon skin and discard.  If the skin doesn't come away easily, put the lid back on and cook for a further 5-10 minutes. If the skin does come away easily, flake the fish with a serving spoon. Again, if it doesn't flake easily and is not cooked through, put the lid back on and cook for a further 5 minutes.

When the salmon is cooked, turn off the heat and flake the salmon.  Mix the salmon and spinach into the rice. Serve immediately.

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Chinese Congee (Rice Porridge/Soup)

Rice porridge may sound unappealing, but this simple Asian dish is great comfort food and can be taken in a soup flask as a packed lunch. 

Congee is the Mandarin name, Jook in Cantonese, Chok in Thailand, and Cháo in Vietnamese. I regularly had it for breakfast backpacking in Malaysia, Thailand, and Hong Kong.

The classic congee is just rice simmered in water or stock until it breaks down essentially to mush, and flavoured with ginger and soy.

Shredded chicken, minced pork, or egg can be added to the classic congee for protein, but I like to make a plant based version with vegetable stock, tofu, and colourful vegetables.

Serves 2

1 litre vegetable stock

1 cup cooked rice, white rice is traditional but I prefer brown rice

1 tbsp finely grated ginger

2 large cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed

200g firm tofu, grated

1 large carrot, grated

1 pak choi, thinly sliced 

2 spring onions, finely chopped

Seasonings - chilli oil, sesame oil, chilli flakes, soy sauce, and/or fish sauce to serve

Add the rice, garlic, and ginger to a pan.  Pour over the stock and bring to the boil.

Boil for 5-10 minutes uncovered until the rice is a runny porridge consistence. 

Stir in the tofu, carrot, and pak choi to heat up.

Serve when congee comes back to the boil.  Sprinkle each serving with a chopped spring onion, and season with what ever you have to hand and to your own taste.

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One Pan Chicken & Rice

An Iraqi recipe for T'Beet on my Instagram reels reminded me of a simple one pan chicken & rice I used to make, as well as Egyptian Rice & Lentils (Mujaddara).  As I didn't have the requisite Iraqi spices for T'Beet I freestyled sit, based on my earlier recipe.

Serves 4

4 large or 8 small chicken thighs 

2 tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, peeled and sliced in half moons

4 garlic cloves, peeled & crushed

1 large mug basmati rice

200g cooked puy lentils, drained, or bag of baby spinach 

1 tbsp ras el hanout (optional)

1 lemon ( I used a homemade preserved lemon)

In a lidded pan, large enough for the chicken to be in a single layer, brown the chicken thighs skin side down in the olive oil over a medium high heat.  Remove to a plate when brown.

Turn the heat down to medium and caramelise the onion the same pan
after you have removed the chicken.

When the onion is as brown as you dare, stir in the garlic and ras el hanout, and fry for a minute or so before adding the rice and drained lentils.  Measure out a mug and a half of boiling water and pour into the pan.  The water needs to be 1 cm above the level of rice and lentils, so top up with boiling water if required.

If using spinach rather than lentils, stir it into the hot water and rice until it is wilted and mixed through well.

Halve the lemon and juice, then cut the halves in half again.  Pour the lemon juice over the rice.  Arrange the browned chicken, skin side up now, on top of the rice and nestle the juiced lemon quarters between them.

Cover and bring to the boil.  Once boiling, turn the heat down to it's lowest heat and leave to simmer for 20 minutes.

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Mediterranean Rice

OH came up with this dish whilst cooking in the cramped static caravan in the south of France, and with the limited supplies in the small campsite shop (we had sweetcorn instead of yellow pepper, and he mistakenly picked up tuna in tomato sauce) 

Serves 4

1 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, peeled and diced 
1 large clove of garlic, peeled and crushed
2 cans tuna chunks in oil
1 yellow pepper, deseeded and diced 
1 beef tomato, diced 
500g cooked rice (we could only find rice in sachets, which only took 12 minutes to cook)

Chilli powder (optional)

Soften the onion, pepper, and garlic in a large saucepan in either olive oil or the oil from one of the tuna cans.

When the onion is translucent, add the chopped tomato and cook gently until it starts to soften.
Stir in the tuna and rice and heat to piping hot. 

Serve with chilli powder if desired 

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One Pan Asian Salmon & Rice

I've been seeing a lot of recipes for rice cooker 'all in one' meals.  Whilst I do have a rice cooker (in the garage), I thought I'd try cooking it my Perfect Basmati Rice way.  It worked brilliantly.

Serves 4

1 mug basmati rice

1 tbsp grated ginger

1 large garlic clove, grated 

1 tbsp sesame oil

2 tbsp light soy sauce

200g baby leaf spinach or frozen edaname beans 

1 large carrot, grated 

500g salmon fillet

Put the rice, ginger, garlic, sesame oil, and soy sauce into a pan with a good fitting lid, wide enough to fit the salmon fillet.

Mix the rice and flavourings, then place the spinach and grated carrot on top of the rice.

Pour over 1.5 mugs of boiling water, put on the lid, and place the pan over a medium heat and bring to the boil.

When boiling, place the salmon skin side up on top of the spinach and carrot.  Put the lid back on, and when the pan comes back to the boil again, turn down to the lowest heat and set a timer for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes is up, turn the heat off and set a timer for another 10 minutes to finish steaming the rice and salmon.  DO NOT LIFT THE LID!

After the second 10 minutes, remove the lid and lift off the skin of the salmon and discard. Break the salmon into flakes and gently mix the rice, spinach, and carrot.

Serve with an extra drizzle of soy sauce and sesame oil.  I also added a sprinkling of chilli flakes and sesame seeds because I had some.

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Chilli Bean Wholegrain Salad

On a cool damp spring day a chilli is definitely called for, rather than a salad.  But I'm not cooking a chilli for lunch, so have just added many of the raw Chilli con Veggie ingredients to some warmed up grains.

Serves 2 as a light lunch

200g cooked pearl barley, quinoa, or brown rice

1 can black beans, drained 

1 pointed red pepper, diced

2 fat spring onions, sliced (or half a small red onion)

1 tbsp chopped picked jalapeños 

1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp dried oregano (optional)

2 tbsp mixed seeds (optional)

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

A sprinkle of chopped fresh parsley or coriander (optional)

Dice all your ingredients whilst your grains are cooking, if you do not have any pre-cooked (I have begun batch cooking grains at weeks and freezing it in single portions for such an eventuality).  Diced tomato and avocado could be added if you have any to hand.

Stir everything into the warm grains, season to taste, and tuck in.

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Suzie Lee's Beef Fried Rice

Stumbled across Suzie Lee's (winner of BBC’s Best Home Cook 2020) recipes on iplayer on a quiet Friday night in.  Last night I made her Beef Fried Rice recipe, which went down a treat with my teens. Below is the recipe copy & pasted from the BBC website

Serves 4

4 eggs
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
40g of ginger
2 carrots
1 courgette (pak choi, peas, or edamame beans)
500g lean beef mince
500g cold cooked basmati rice
3 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp oyster sauce

2 Spring onions to garnish
Pinch of white pepper
Vegetable oil

Start by chopping the onion. Peel ginger and mince garlic cloves. Peel the carrots and take the ends off the courgette. Slice spring onions for garnish and set to the side.

Heat a large deep pan or wok and fry off beef mince without adding any oil. Break the mince up in the pan with a wooden spoon or spatula so that it breaks into smaller pieces and cooks evenly. Add a tbsp of soy sauce and white pepper to the mince to season. When the mince is cooked, remove from the pan and place to one side.

In the same pan add some vegetable oil. Beat the eggs together in a bowl or jug. Add the eggs to the pan and cook them like an omelette, until you have a cooked ‘disc’ of egg. Be careful not to overcook the egg, slightly under is better than over. When the egg is cooked take it out of the pan and put to one side.

Add enough oil to the pan to coat it. Grate in the peeled ginger and add minced garlic. When you can smell the aromatics, add the onion and grate in carrots and courgette. Cook for a couple of minutes, stirring them round until they soften and the liquid evaporates

Make sure the pan is on a high heat and make room in the pan for the cold rice. Add the rice to the pan and stir through. Add 2 tbsp of soy sauce and add the mince back to the pan. Pour the sesame oil in, making sure it hits the metal of the pan to release the flavour. Season with white pepper. Add the oyster sauce and stir through before returning cooked egg to the pan. Mix everything through thoroughly, breaking up the egg as you go. 

Garnish with spring onions.

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Jerk Style Rice and Peas

Jerk style Rice & Peas (Beans) is a great budget store cupboard meal, healthy, and surprisingly filling.

I made a Jerk paste, but ready made pastes are available in UK supermarkets.

Serves 4

Jerk Paste 

1 small onion

1 large clove of garlic

1 scotch bonnet pepper (or 1 tsp smoked paprika, 1/4 tsp chilli powder, or 1 tbsp West Indian Chilli Sauce)

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

1/2 tsp thyme

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Rice and Peas

1 onion, peeled and diced

2 tbsp olive oil

250g basmati rice

2 cans black eyed peas, black beans, peas & beans mix including their liquid

Jerk Paste, all the above or 2 tbsp ready made

1 vegetable stock cube, crumbled

1 litre just boiled water

4 spring onions,  thinly slice

Make the paste in a liquidiser, adding a tablespoon at a time until you have a thick paste, if you are making your own Jerk paste.

Fry the onions gently in the olive oil in a large saucepan (with a well fitting lid) until soft.  

Stir in the rest of the ingredients apart from the spring onions.  The liquid should cover the rice and beans.  Add more boiling water if it does not.  

Cover and bring to the boil, then turn down to a simmer for 10 minutes.  When the 10 minutes is up, turn off the heat but DO NOT lift the lid.  Set the timer for another 10 minutes to leave the rice to absorb any remaining liquid.

Stir in the chopped spring onions before serving.

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Perfect Basmati Rice

Friends' children heading off to uni this week prompted me to teach my 15 year old how to cook basmati rice. I was taught to cook rice this way (and several other student one pan dishes) at 18 by my boyfriend at the time's parents who had lived in Singapore.

Serves 4

1 mug basmati filled to the brim

1.5 mugs boiling water

Measure the rice in a dry mug then pour over the boiling water. The water should be about 1cm about the level of the rice.

Cover with a well fitting lid, or plate. Bring to the boil, stir, put the lid back on, turn the heat down to it's lowest, and cook for 10 minutes. SET A TIMER!

After 10 minutes turn off the heat but DO NOT LIFT THE LID. Set the timer for another 10 minutes for the rice to steam and absorb any remaining water.

When the timer goes off the second time, fluff up and serve.

A large pinch of salt can be added to the cooking water if preferred. And we usually add half a mug of frozen peas and 1 tsp cumin seeds at the beginning if cooking rice for a curry.  With white boiled rice £4 a serving at our local curry house, cooking rice to go with a takeaway is a big saving.

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Piri Piri Chicken & Rice

I used to make a one pan chicken & rice dish with just lemon and garlic in my first flat share after university.  I hadn't made it for ages, but thought it would work well with piri piri flavours.

Serves 4

8 small chicken thighs

½ tsp hot chilli flakes

1 tbsp roughly chopped garlic

1 tsp salt

½ tsp oregano

½ tbsp paprika

50ml/1¾fl oz red wine vinegar

200g 1 large mug of rice 

1½ mugs boiling water

1 chicken stock cube, crumbled 
Oil for frying

Stab the chicken thighs and marinade with all the ingredients apart from the rice, stock cube, oil, and water for a couple of hours, or ideally overnight.

In a large saucepan, large enough to take the chicken in a single layer, with a well fitting lid or that covers snugly with a plate, first fry the chicken in a little oil for about 5 minutes per side to brown.  

Remove the chicken from the frying pan to a plate and stir in the rice. Add the boiling water, crumbled stock cube, and any remaining marinade. The fluid should come about 1cm above the level of the rice. Stir well until the stock cube is dissolved. Arrange the chicken thighs skin side back on top, bring to the boil then turn down to a the lowest heat and cover with a well fitting lid or plate and leave for 20 minutes.  Do not lift the lid at any stage as this lets out valuable steam and heat.  

After 20 minutes, check the chicken is cooked by piercing with a sharp knife or skewer and ensure the juices run clear with no blood.

Serve with a green salad or something else green - beans, broccoli...

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Mujaddara, Middle Eastern Rice & Lentils

Needed as a break from lentil curry, so recalled this Middle Eastern recipe I'd seen in a library e-book over the summer.  

Serves 4

200g dry green or brown lentils, or a can

2 onions, peeled and finely sliced

2 large cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp cumin seeds

2 tbsp ground coriander

½ tsp ground turmeric

1½ tsp ground cinnamon

1 mug basmati rice

For the garlic yogurt

250ml Greek yoghurt (or vegan yoghurt)

3 spring onions, finely sliced, or wilted spinach

1 garlic clove, crushed

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

Salt & pepper to taste

The original recipe calls for deep fried flour dusted onions to be cooked first.  I halved the number of onions (to two), forwent the flour, and just caramelised the onions first, then added the rice and lentils to the onions in the pan to cook like a biryani.

Cook the lentils for 2 minutes less than the instructions on their packet so they stay firm.  Drain the tinned lentils if using.

Heat the olive oil in a heavy bottomed pan.  Peel and half the onions, then thinly slice,  Fry gently for about 20 minutes over a medium high heat, stirring from time to time, until brown.  

Add the garlic and dry spices. Stir the rice and drained lentils into the oil and spices, then add a mug and a half of recently boiled water

Cover and bring to the boil, then turn down the lowest heat to simmer gently for 15 minutes or until the rice is tender. 

Whilst the rice is cooking, mix all the garlic yoghurt ingredients in a bowl and leave to one side. 

After the rice has been cooking for 15 minutes, turn the heat off and leave to rest for 10 minutes without taking the lid off.  After 10 minutes fluff the rice up with a fork and stir in half the fried onions, and sprinkle the rest on the top

Serve with the garlic yoghurt on the side.

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Indonesian Egg Fried Rice with Smoked Mackerel

A quick midweek Omega 3 rich family friendly fried rice, based on BBC Good Food's Indonesian Fried Rice with Mackerel.

For a fish dish, this went down really well with the kids.

Serves 4

2 tbsp vegetable oil

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 tbsp red curry paste

800g cooked basmati rice (about 250g-300g uncooked)

4 fat spring onions, sliced

140g frozen peas, edamame beans, or sliced cabbage

4 smoked mackerel fillets, flaked

4 tbsp kecap manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce),  or 2 tbsp soy sauce + 1 tsp sugar

Sriracha Chilli Sauce, to serve

Cook the rice if you don't have any ready cooked, and leave to cool.

Heat the oil in a wok.  If using cabbage, stir fry this for a couple of minutes, then add the curry paste and fry breaking up any lumps with a wooden spoon.

Pour in the egg and swirl around as if making an omelette, then break up with the wooden spoon and push to one side.  Add the mackerel to the side of the wok you've just cleared, then add the spring onion and peas or edamame.  Stir and mix well then add the rice and stir everything through well.  

Once the rice is well mixed, cover and turn the heat down low for a few minutes to heat the rice through thoroughly.

Serve with a tablespoon of kecap manis per person, and Sriracha chilli sauce to taste.

I would have made this with brown rice had we had some, and possibly would substitute the red curry paste for garlic in ginger as in Nasi Goreng, Indonesian Fried Rice with Chicken & Pork I was taught years ago by someone who lived in Singapore.

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Tinned Tuna or Salmon Kedgeree

Tuna Kedgeree is a great quick budget store cupboard meal.

I used to make kedgeree with smoked haddock, but the kids found one bone too many and took against it. 

Discovering a recipe for Smoked Salmon Kedgeree got me thinking whether tinned tuna Kedgeree might be a possible alternative.  Turns out there are several recipes on the web, and is very similar to a Frankfurter (or Tuna) & Sweet Corn Risotto taught to me by my first boyfriend's mother, fearing we young students were going to starve when left to housesit for a week.

Serves 4 

4 medium free-range eggs

2 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, finely sliced

1 tsp medium/hot curry powder 

1 tsp garam masala (optional)

300g basmati rice

1 mug frozen peas, or sweet corn of a combination of both (I used half sweetcorn, half homegrown sliced runner beans)

2 x 160g tinned tuna or salmon

600ml recently boiled water

In a large saucepan with a lid, gently fry the onion in the oil for 10 minutes until soft. Stir in the spices and fry for a couple of minutes, then stir in the rice and vegetables.

Pour in the hot water, season well, place the eggs in their shells on top of the rice, then cover the pan, bring to the boil, then turn down to a very low heat and  cook for 10 minutes until all the water has been absorbed and the rice is cooked.

When the rice is cooked, turn off the heat, remove the eggs. Fluff the rice with a fork and stir in the tuna.Replace the lid whilst you cool the eggs under cold running water, then peel and quarter.  Serve the kedgeree with a quartered hard-boiled egg per plate.

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Pilau Rice

Thought I'd try a pilau rice for the first time with last night's Sweet Potato & Chickpea Jalfrezi. Providing you have the spices, it's pretty straightforward.

Serves 4-6

2 tbsp vegetable oil 

½ tsp ground coriander
6 cardamom pods
1 tsp cumin seeds
8 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
2 bay leaves
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
½ tsp ground turmeric
½ tsp black mustard seeds
300g basmati rice
500ml vegetable or chicken stock, fresh or made from 1 stock cube

Heat the oil in a saucepan over a medium heat.  When hot add the onion and garlic and fry for 5 minutes, or until softened, stirring regularly. Stir in all the spices and fry gently for 2 minutes, stirring.

Add the rice and stir it around in the buttery spices before adding the stock. Stir well, cover with a tight fitting lid, and bring to the boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to its lowest setting and cook for 10 minutes.  After 10 minutes, turn off the heat. DO NOT lift the lid, but leave to steam with the residual heat for another 10 minutes.

Fluff gently with a fork and serve, warning diners about the whole spices.

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