Vegetable and chickpea pilaf

By Mandy Sinclair

Serving size: Serves 4
Cuisine type: Middle Eastern, Modern Australian
Cooking time: Less than 30 minutes
Special options: Heart friendly, Kid friendly, Low Carb, Low cholesterol, Low cost / value, Low fat, Vegetarian
Course: Lunch, Main, Side dish
Favourite flavours: Easy recipes, Saucy

INGREDIENTS

1 onion, halved, sliced
1 tablespoon curry paste or powder (see tip)
1½ cups (300g) basmati rice
1 small kumara, peeled, chopped
400g can chickpeas, drained, rinsed
1 red capsicum, cut into thin strips
100g baby spinach
toasted flaked almonds, to serve (optional)

$2.60 per serve

kJ 1840, fat 6g, sat fat 1g.

METHOD

1. Cook onion in a lightly greased saucepan for 3 minutes, until soft. Add curry paste or powder and cook for 30 seconds, until fragrant. Add rice and kumara with 3 cups water. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes, until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat.

2. Stir through chickpeas, capsicum and spinach. Cover and set aside for 2 minutes. Season to taste and serve scattered with almonds, if you like.

Tip: try chicken or vegetable stock in place of water for a stronger flavour.

Tip: if you're using curry powder, add a tablespoon of water so it doesn't burn.

MESSENGER

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User comments

I made this last night. I ended up using 5 cups of water, though, as the rice dried and stuck to the pan. I also stirred it once every few minutes after I'd put the lid on to simmer, to prevent it from sticking and burning. I used normal potato - I cubed it, it cooked very quickly. I also found it only needed 10-15 mins simmering, not 20. I put the veggies and chickpeas in about 3mins from the end to cook it all in together, and make the caps a bit softer. This seemed to work really well. Great use of curry powder, really infused the whole thing. I found it really fun and quick to cook. I might make this a staple - really enjoyed it. Thank you for sharing it!