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Recipe - Chickpea Rice Pilaf

by Erica Green

NOTE: Print this Page for easy reference when cooking.

 
Pilaf or Pilau is an Indian side dish consisting of rice seasoned with stock and spices. In this recipe I have pushed the concept a little with the inclusion of chickpeas and spinach.

 
Ingredients

Serves 4

• 1 Tbsp. oil
• 1 Tbsp. dairy free butter/margarine
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 16 curry leaves
• 1 1/2 Tsp. garam masala
• 1/2 Tsp.  ground cumin
• 1 cups basmati rice
• 2 cups boiling water
• 2 Tsp. Chicken flavoured stock powder
• 1/2 Tsp.  salt
• 1 x 400g can chickpeas, drained
• 60g baby spinach leaves, roughly chopped

 
Method

• In a large shallow pan with a lid, sauté the onion in the oil and dairy free butter until transparent.  Add the curry leaves and spices.  Stir through for a few minutes to wake up the spices.
• Add rice and stir through to coat allowing a few minutes for the flavours to penetrate the grain.
• Add the hot water, stock powder, salt, and chickpeas.
• Bring to the boil, cover the pan, and turn down to the lowest temperature. 
• Allow to simmer undisturbed for 15 minutes.
• Stir through the spinach leaves.
• Stand for a further 5 min to allow the spinach to wilt and for the last of the excess moisture to be absorbed so that the grains of nice are dry and separate.
• Adjust the seasoning as required

About the Recipe

• This recipe is suitable for vegetarians and vegans.
• This recipe calls for canned chickpeas.  You can of course cook your own, but good quality canned chickpeas are so readily available that I don't usually bother. Just make sure that the brand that you buy has been pre-soaked otherwise they may tend to be hard.
• Basmati is a long grain variant of rice which is known for its fluffy consistency and for the characteristic separation of grains when cooked, rather than clumped together like stickier varieties. Separate grains are important for this dish so please don't substitute a sticky rice variety.
• "Massel" make a range of vegan stocks and stock powders which are flavoured to be similar to chicken or beef stock. You can also get low salt varieties if that is an issue for you. They are a staple item in my pantry.
• Garam masala is an Indian spice mix with ingredients which are unique to the maker, but usually include spices such as:-  coriander, cinnamon, cardamon, cloves, cumin, nutmeg, pepper, fennel, ginger
• Some may wonder what the difference is between Pilaf and Biryani.  Generally, pilaf is considered to be a side dish, whereas biryani is considered to be a more substantial main dish including meat.  The lines are a little more blurred for vegetarian versions, but regardless of the name or the eating circumstance, I would be more concerned that the food tasted good.

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