The members of The Geezers were given ingredients from Bags of Taste to cook three different meals, along with step by step instructions. They run mentored courses in small groups. This excellent idea is to get us cooking nutritious, healthy and inexpensive meals.
In my household I don’t normally cook, but can if required, or I push myself.
One of the meals offered by Bags of Taste is a Middle Eastern Pilaf. I looked in our various cookery books for extra inspiration but drew a blank. Then I went online and found loads of different recipes.
In the end I created a synthesis from the recipes I found online.
Step by step instructions for cooking a Persian style Vegetarian Pilaf
I bought all of the ingredients a short walk away in the Roman Road Market, London E3. I would think you’ll already have some of them.
Ingredients:
Basmati Rice
Vegetable stock cube
Butter
Olive Oil, if you have some already
Onions
Garlic
Saffron
Fennel Seeds
Cumin Seeds
Coriander
Cardamom Pods
Cinnamon Stick
Green Chilli
Lebanese 7 Spice (or similar)
Dried Bay Leaves
Raisins
Dried Cranberries
A Peach
Lemon Juice or a Lemon
Shelled Pistachio Nuts
Dried Pomegranate Seeds
Green Beans
A big Carrot
Getting Prepared
A quarter fill a cup with pomegranate seeds and add cold water to soak them. Do the same with the dried cranberries. do this at least an hour before you start to cook. Just before you start cooking grind the saffron threads, put them into a cup and pour on some boiling water. In another cup crumble the vegetable stock cube and pour on boiling water. Stir it from time to time.
Chop two onions and four cloves of garlic.
Find your best saucepan
It should be fairly big and be made of thick cast iron if possible.
Turn on the heat, put in some butter and olive oil and gently fry a teaspoon each of fennel seeds and cumin seeds. After a few minutes put in the chopped onions and garlic. Cook for a further 5 mins. Add the cinnamon stick – if it looks like a tube, split it down the middle and put both bits in. Keep stirring as you go. Add the cardamom pods (a heaped tablespoon), half a chopped green chilli and a teaspoon of the Lebanese 7 spice.
Add a mug full of basmati rice, and stir it in to coat it with all the flavours of the spices. Add a mug and a half of water. You’ll need to turn the gas up to make sure it’s all boiling.
Add a chopped peach, the raisins, pistachio nuts, coriander and pomegranate seeds, and the dried cranberries both with their liquid. Give it all a big stir and put the lid on. Lower the heat once it’s boiling. Cook it for 15 mins with the lid on as much as you can. A few minutes from the end stir in the saffron and its juice. Take it off the heat. Leave it to stand for 10 mins with the lid on.
Put a smaller pan on the cooker
Once you’ve got the rice underway cook the green beans and chopped carrots in a little olive oil and butter. Stir them occasionally for 15 mins.
Get out the plates
The rice mixture should have absorbed all the liquid, so using a slotted spoon lift the rice from the pan straight onto the plates. Put the green beans and carrots on top to give the finished meal an attractive colour. The green beans also provide protein.
I think these quantities will feed about 2/3 people.
Alan Tucker