Curried Chunky Vegetables and Green Lentils Served With Red Rice - Original Recipe

There's an interesting legend about red rice - Chinese goddess Kuan-yin went down to Earth and was saddened to see people dying of hunger.  In an act of compassion she squeezed drops of milk from her breasts onto the humble empty-hulled rice plant, until the panicles became full of rice grains.  This merciful goddess gave all that she had, and the last droplets of milk were mixed with blood, which is how red rice came to exist.  Kinda gross actually, but I assure you this rice is delicious!

Sometimes I really enjoy a simple vegetable and rice dish that doesn't take as much preparation time as a curry, and where the veg is only lightly cooked to retain the nutritional goodness and great chunky crunchiness.  Although red rice tastes the same as brown basmati, it is more nutritional and it also add a bit of exciting colour to the plate too.  The 'curry' is literally natural yoghurt and several choice spices, which doesn't overpower the flavours of the other ingredients like a curry does.  I also prepare the curried vegetables in bulk so I can freeze portions for future meals, then all I have to do is soak and cook the rice for a nice easy dinner.

What you will need:

100g red rice (per person)

100g green lentils

1 large sweet potato

1 large yellow pepper

1 large courgette

2 red onions

1 bulb garlic

250g natural yoghurt

1 tblsp mild/medium curry powder

1 tblsp cumin

1 tblsp turmeric

1 tblsp paprika

1 tblsp black pepper

2 tsp salt

Method:

Measure out the rice, put into a saucepan and cover with plenty of cold water.  For optimal results leave to soak for at least 8 hours before cooking, as this causes the grain to be more nutritional and easier to digest.  Then bring the rice to the boil, and simmer on moderate heat for about 40 minutes or so until tender.  I usually begin cooking my rice at the same time as preparing the rest of the dish, so that everything is ready together.

Put the lentils in a saucepan and cover with cold water.  Bring to the boil and then simmer for about 20 minutes until softened. 

Drain using a sieve or colander.

Prepare the vegetables: roughly chop the sweet potato and mince with the garlic in a food processor/manual veg chopper.  Dice the onions, pepper and courgette.

Saute the sweet potato and garlic in a large frying pan in 2 tblsp coconut oil for about 8 minutes until softened.

Add the onion and pepper to the frying pan and continue to saute for a further 5 minutes until they soften a little.

Add the courgette and green lentils to the frying pan.

Add the natural yoghurt and all the spices to the frying pan and mix well.

Drain the rice using a sieve or colander and arrange a bed of the rice on a dinner plate.  Spoon the curried vegetables into the centre and serve immediately whilst piping hot.

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Many thanks.
 

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All photos in this post are my own original.