Recipe: Easy way to make vegetable rice

Vegetable rice is simple to prepare yet an incredibly tasty and filling meal.

It's a healthy dish that uses only one pot which makes cooking and cleaning a lot easier.

You can have it on its own or have it accompanied by gravy for an extra kick into the flavours. 

Ingredients

• 2 cups rice
• 3 cups water
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/2 cup peas
• 1/4 cup diced carrots
• bunch of French beans
• 1 large onion
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp turmeric
• cooking oil
• Salt to taste

Method

Peel and crush your garlic cloves, alternatively, you can chop them into small pieces if you don't have a pestle and mortar.

Wash the onion and dice it into medium-sized pieces or semi-circles if you prefer.

Add cooking oil to a large sufuria and allow it to heat under a medium-low heat source then add your onions and stir gently. Add the garlic then allow it to cook while stirring gently so that they don't burn.

Note: When cooking rice, do use a large cooking pot to allow it to swell and cook evenly.

Wash the rice till water is clear then pour it into the cooking pot.

Stir till it's well mixed with the fragrant onions.

Allow it to soak flavour for a while then add water and bring it to boil over a medium-high heat source.

Note: If using basmati rice, wash and soak it for 30 minutes before cooking. This helps make it light, fluffy and ensures even cooking.

Add in the salt, turmeric and cumin powder and stir generously.

Then pour in the peas (pre-boiled) and diced carrots. Lower the heat source to a medium-low and cover the cooking pot.

Check on the rice to see if it's ready, if you're unsure use a fork to poke it in the middle. If it comes up wet then cover the rice and allow it to cook some more. If it's dry with little to no rice particles sticking to it, then it's ready.

Once the rice is ready, remove the cover and use a spatula to stir and fluff it.

Serve with salad or gravy and enjoy.

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