Farmersgirl Kitchen: Cracked Wheat Pilaff and Vegetable Curry

Thursday, 20 October 2011

Cracked Wheat Pilaff and Vegetable Curry

It's Random Recipes time again! This month Dom decided to stir things up a bit and make us connect with other participants in the challenge. My partner was Alice of Italian Inspiration and we had to pick recipes for each other!

Random Recipes #9

It was all done with Random Number Generation, and the book that I got was Casserole Cooking by Pamela Westland I was rather pleased about that as I know that there are lots of nice recipes in this book and I love to make casseroles, they are so easy to make and also often better when reheated.

Back to Alice to tell her how many pages there were in the book and she returned with my number, now the page had two recipes on it, but I thought they would actually go rather well together so decided to make both.

Vegetable Curry

225g (8oz) carrots, trimmed and diced

225g (8oz) shelled broad beans

225g (8oz) shelled peas

1 small cauliflower, cut into florets

salt

3 tbsp oil

1 medium onion, peeled and sliced

2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped

1 tsp paprika

1 tbsp curry paste

1 tbsp wholewheat flour

5 tbsp double cream

1 tsp lemon juice

2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander

4 tbsp cashew nuts, toasted

1. Steam the carrots, broad beans, peas and cauliflower over boiling salted water until they are barely tender - they will cook a little more in the sauce. Reserve 300ml (1/2 pint) of the liquid.

2. Heat the oil in a flameproof casserole and fry the onion and garlic, over moderate heat for 3 minutes, stirring once or twice.

3. Stir in the paprika cook for a minute. Stir in the curry paste and the flour.

4. Slowly pour the reserved liquid into the casserole, stirring until the sauce thickens. Stir in the cream and lemon juice.

5. Add all the vegetables to the sauce, stir gently, cover and simmer over low heat for 5 minutes.

6. Stir in 1 tbsp of the chopped herb and 2 tbsp of the cashews.

7. Sprinkle the remaining herb over the vegetables and catter on the remaining nuts. Serve with brown rice and tomato salad.

The second recipe is for Cracked Wheat and Spinach Pilaf, this is not a way I've used Bulgar Wheat before, so I was interested to see what it would be like.

Cracked Wheat and Spinach Pilaff

3 tbsp oil

1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped

1 garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped

225g (8oz) cracked wheat (bulgar), washed and drained

450ml (3/4 pint) vegetable stock

4 tbsp seedless raisins

1/2 small cauliflower, cut into florets

175g (6oz) spinach leaves, stalks removed

salt

freshly ground black pepper

2 tbsp snipped chives

4 tbsp blanched almonds, toasted

tomato wedges, to garnish

1. Heat the oil in a flameproof casserole and fry the onion over moderate heat for 3 minutes, stirring once or twice. Stir in the garlic and fry for 1 minute.

2. Stir in the cracked wheat, cook for 1 minute, then pour on the vegetable stock. Stir in the raisins and cauliflower florets, season with salt and pepper and bring to the boil.

3. Cover the casserole and simmer for 20 minutes, until the wheat and cauliflower is almost tender.

4. Add the spinach leaves, increase the heat and stir to distribute them well. Serve as soon as the spinach is just tender and the liquid evaporated. The dish should be just moist.

5. Stir in the chives and almonds, and turn the pilaff on to a warmed serving dish and garnish with tomato wedges, if wished.

This was a fun challenge and the two dishes worked really well together. The curry was lovely and creamy and the firm texture of the cracked wheat worked well as a substitute for rice. Both dishes also reheated really well.

Labels: bular wheat, cashews, casserole, cracked wheat, curry, Random Recipes, vegetarian

6 Comments:

At 20 October 2011 at 22:05 , Unknown said...: Oh god they both look outstanding. I am drooling and I've only just eaten my dinner! The curry really looks great. You're so lucky to have picked such excellent dishes. Thanks for taking part this month x
At 21 October 2011 at 06:18 , scrumptious days said...: What a fantastic meal. I am impressed that you made both recipes on the page!
At 21 October 2011 at 11:28 , Karen S Booth said...: BEAUTIFUL photos Janice and curry, I can inhale curry any day of the week.....LOVE the ingredients too, this RR has been great fun!
Karen
At 21 October 2011 at 14:42 , Anonymous said...: looks great! Something warming and tasty for the winter months! This sounds like an interesting monthly challenge can anyone take part?
At 21 October 2011 at 19:09 , Janice said...: Yummychooeats - yes, go to Dom's blog Belleau Kitchen through the link on my post and you will see all the instructions for the challenge, or access it though UKFB group for Cooking and Baking Challenges. It's not always an exchange with another blogger, usually it's a different way of finding the Random Recipe. Look foward to seeing your entry.
At 22 October 2011 at 23:48 , Jacqueline Meldrum said...: Oh my god that looks divine Janice. I wish I had been there for dinner.

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Farmersgirl Kitchen

Thursday, 20 October 2011

Cracked Wheat Pilaff and Vegetable Curry

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