Sultana Rice With Quinoa

This is a nice sneaky way of getting quinoa into the kids without them really noticing due to the sultanas and nigella seeds!

It would take a great deal of patience for a fussy child to pick the quinoa out and my boys loved the sweetness of the sultanas so never really noticed anything else!

Serves 4.

Ingredients

50g butter or oil

1 large onion, peeled and sliced

1 garlic clove, peeled and sliced

A pinch of chilli flakes

100g basmati rice, washed and drained

70g white quinoa, washed and drained

25g red quinoa, washed and drained

75g sultanas

400mls water

Salt and pepper

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

2 teaspoons nigella seeds

Method

In a lidded pan, heat the butter over high heat and then add the onion, cook until beginning to colour.

Reduce the heat and add the chilli and garlic, cook for one minute.

Now add the rice, both quinoa and sultanas, stir to coat.

Pour in the water and season.

Cover. Bring the pan up to the boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer gently for 20 minutes, do not remove the lid!

Turn the heat off, leave the lid on and let sit for ten minutes.

Remove the lid and stir in half of the nigella seeds and the parsley.

Spoon into a warmed serving plate and sprinkle over the remaining seeds.

Roasted Moong Dal

I love dal/dhal.

This is one of the easiest dals to make and packs a real flavour hit. I tend to make this dal in the morning to let the flavour develop through the day, leftovers are fantastic the next day, I often have them for breakfast, and I also freeze some with cooked rice for quick and easy meals in the future.

For the vegetarian or dairy free options use coconut oil or a vegetable based oil.

Ingredients

360g moong dhal/dal

1.5l water

2 pinches saffron

1 tablespoon salt

75g ghee or coconut oil

2 teaspoons brown mustard seeds

2 teaspoons nigella / koolanji seeds

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes, crushed chilli

Method

In a large heavy based pan, warm the dry dal over a medium heat until slightly browning and smelling nutty.

Pour the dal into a sieve and wash under running water.

Return the dal to the pan with the water and saffron.

Bring up to the boil and cook over medium to low heat for 40mins, skimming off the foam as it rises to the surface and stirring regularly. Towards the end it will want to burn to the bottom of your pan!

Once the dal is cooked, take a small frying pan, over high heat, heat the ghee, until very hot, add the spices, as soon as the mustard starts popping, turn off and add to the dal, it will spit as the ghee hits the dal! Stir well in and set aside.

Reheat gently to serve.