Carrot and cumin pilaf rice

This vegetarian rice pilaf is filled with heady spices and fragrance. The beauty of this recipe is that it’s all cooked in the one dish and after only a little effort gets finished in the oven.

Credit: Donal's Meals in Minutes

• serves

  2

• prep

  5 minutes

• cook

  45 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 3 tsp (15 ml) canola (rapeseed) oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 carrots, sliced thinly
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 200 g basmati rice
• 350 ml vegetable stock
• 400 g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• A good handful of flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 1 lemon (plus extra wedges to serve, optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 200˚C.
2. Place a low-sided casserole dish over a medium high heat. Add the oil and fry the onion and carrot for 6 minutes or until the onion are just tender. Add in the spices and fry for another 2-3 minutes.
3. Stir through the rice, vegetable stock and chickpeas.  Bring to a steady simmer before covering with a lid and transferring to the oven to cook for 35 minutes. Fluff up with a fork after half the cooking time.
4. Once cooked stir through the parsley and a squeeze of lemon juice.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.