VeggieAtlas

I adore rice and pretty much eat it in some form or another every day (preferably brown and biodynamic, yum!). But sometimes, I want more than plain rice and this is where pacha rice comes in. I don’t have it often, but sometimes this recipe just calls to me.

Celia Brooks Brown’s version of pacha rice (studded rice and vermicelli) is in her book, World Vegetarian Classics. This is an Egyptian/North African version of a dish that, from what I can see, seems to be made all the way from Northern Africa, through Afghanistan to southern India. There are a number of versions of pacha and not always veggie – in Afghanistan and some Middle Eastern countries, their versions are mainly meat based.

This dish has a great texture, is aromatic, the flavours are subtle and I can easily eat it as is. That said, it goes really well with plain cooked lentils, steamed or stir-fried veggies, or any kind of a lentil or bean recipe.

Just a note, I am usually not a fan of mixing something sweet (i.e. sultanas) into a savoury dish, but for some reason I really like it in this. It came as a surprise to me when I first tried it as I was going to omit the sultanas, but am really glad I didn’t.

Pacha Rice

3 tbsp butter or oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

½ tsp dried thyme, or 4 sprigs of fresh

2 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped

½ tsp dried basil, or 5 or so leaves of fresh

½ tsp turmeric

1 tsp coriander seeds, crushed

Salt and pepper to taste

½ cup sultanas

1¼ cups rice (I used organic basmati but any long grain rice will do)

2 cups water

125g vermicelli or angel hair pasta, cut or broken into pieces (I used the Asian mung bean vermicelli)

1 tbsp butter or oil

1/3 cup blanched almonds*, coarsely chopped

• Place a large saucepan over a medium heat and add the butter/oil. When melted/warm, add the onion and cook until translucent
• Add the garlic, herbs, spices and seasonings. Stir for 1-2 minutes until fragrant, and then add the sultanas and rice. Stir so the rice is coated, then pour in the water
• Stir, cover and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until the rice has absorbed all the water and is tender, about 15-20 minutes depending on the rice used
• While the rice is cooking, cook the vermicelli according to instructions, rinse and drain once cooked
• Melt the remaining butter or heat oil in a frying pan over a low-medium heat and add the almonds. When they begin to colour, add the cooked pasta. Fry until the pasta becomes crunchy and golden in places (I find that the mung bean vermicelli takes around 15 or so minutes to crisp up and probably doesn’t get as crunchy as a wheat pasta). Stir into the cooked rice mixture and serve sprinkled with coriander leaves.

*to make your own blanched almonds: simply pour boiling water over your almonds and let them sit until the skins have loosened. Peel or pop them off and voila! It’s not too time consuming and keeping the skins on for as long as possible helps protect the oils in the almonds from rancidity.