This recipe is one of Meera Sodha’s which I have adapted.
Mix the following ingredients together in the bottom of a large terracotta baking dish:
3 tbsp rose harissa
1 chopped fresh chilli – any colour – including seeds
2 finely chopped garlic cloves
50ml rapeseed oil
1 tsp ground cumin
300g basmati or brown rice
2 tsp salt
Add 400ml boiling water and cover tightly with foil or a well fitting lid then put in the lower oven shelf at 290C and bake for about 40 minutes until the fluid has been absorbed. Keep the foil/lid on so the steam keeps the rice light and fluffy.
Chop a mixture of cauliflower and broccoli into chunks and slice a large onion. Add a slight sprinkling of salt, 50ml oil of any description, nigella seeds and cumin seed plus a flat dessert spoon of ground turmeric. Mix it all together and place on a hot baking tray, cover tightly with foil and put in the oven above the rice shelf and bake for 25 minutes, then remove the foil, stir it round and put back in oven for 10 minutes till cooked but not soft.
Meanwhile, toast some flaked almonds and a handful of barberries or raisins in a little oil in the frying pan till browned.
Remove the rice bowl from the oven and check it is cooked. Stir the contents of the bowl to separate the rice grains, and add chopped parsley, dill and mint – then place the roasted cauliflower and broccoli with its sauce on top of the rice then then the almonds and barberries on top.
Serve with flatbread and a simple lentil dal.
Delicious – and even more delicious the next day!
