Quinoa Vegetable Biryani

If you are a reader of my blog, you will probably know that I have a strong preference for animal-protein based meals. This one is for my sister, Naomi, and is vegetarian or vegan. The delicious dish can be served as an accompaniment to a meat meal or as a meal on its own. The recipe comes from ‘Good and Simple’ by the Hemsley sisters. They are two of the most creative cooks around, I love their approach to food and their innovative ideas. I have made some modifications to suit my particular needs.

I know I promised to keep the recipes simple and quick. This one involves a few steps, and will need a bit of preparation time. Not suitable if you are in a hurry. If you have an hour on your hands – go for it!

Ingredients

• 1 cup of quinoa (I highly recommended to pre-soak for at least an hour and preferably overnight) – please read my blog post on soaking grains.

• ¼ head of cauliflower – separated into small florets

• 1 large broccoli floret or two smaller ones – stem peeled and chopped, cut into equal sized florets

• 1-2 carrots – peeled and chopped

• A big handful of green beans – trimmed and cut into 3-4 pieces each

• 1 Tablespoon of coconut oil or ghee (any oil works)

• 1 onion - chopped

• 2-3 cloves of garlic – chopped

• A 2cm piece of ginger – chopped

• 2 teaspoons mild curry powder

• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder

• ½ teaspoon chilli powder

• 2 Tablespoons tomato paste

• 90 ml water or broth

• 2 Tablespoons of lemon or lime juice

• 2 large handfuls of fresh coriander leaves and stems roughly chopped

• Sea salt and black pepper

Method:

1.     Prepare the quinoa, rinse well after soaking until the water runs clear (or as clear as possible). Place in a pot with about a cup and a quarter of water, add salt and bring to the boil. Lower to a gentle heat, put lid on and cook for about 15 minutes. Check that it isn’t too dry, you may need to add a little water. I advise to cook quinoa till soft, particularly if you want to avoid stomach aches. On the other hand, you don’t want it to turn into porridge. Let it stand with lid on until you have completed cooking the vegetables.

2.     Steam your vegetables to the consistency that you prefer. I like mine well-cooked. You can cook the diced carrots, beans and cauliflower together for about 4-5 minutes, and add the broccoli for the last 2-3 minutes. If you prefer al-dente vegetables, cook them for less time.

3.     Melt the coconut oil in a medium pan or wok, add the onion, cover with lid and sweat over low heat for about 6-7 minutes, till the onion has softened.

4.     Add the chopped ginger, garlic and spices and cook for 2 minutes. Add the tomato paste and the water or broth and stir till well mixed.

5.     Add the steamed vegetables to the onion mix and coat well.

6.     Add the cooked quinoa to the vegetable mix and stir gently till the quinoa is covered in the mix and warmed through.

7.     Add lemon or lime juice. Season to taste, transfer to a bowl if you with and top with coriander to serve.

Feel free to use any vegetables you may have at your disposal, I like the mix of green, orange and white.