Ingredients
Method
For the rice
- Bring a large pot of water to the boil with salt.
- Rinse the basmati rice briefly, then place carefully into the boiling water.
- If not cooking using the Persian method, then boil till the rice is fully cooked, and strain.
- If cooking using the Persian method, boil till the rice grains are half cooked, with a streak of opaque white still visible in the grain.
- Strain the rice, and in the large pot, heat the oil with a teaspoon of turmeric.
- Add the rice back into the pot, with 2 tablespoons of water.
- Cover with a lid, and cook over low heat for about 30min, or until the rice has finished cooking in the steam.
For the lentils
- Cover the dried lentils in water, and soak for 30 minutes.
- Strain the lentils, and bring a large pot of salted boiling water to the boil.
- Boil the lentils for about 10 minutes, or till they are tender but retain a slight bite to it
For the Pasta
- Bring a pot of salted boiling water to the boil.
- If using spaghetti, break it up by placing it in the centre of a clean tea towel.
- Roll the tea towel up long ways, and grasp the two overhanging sides.
- Run the towel wrapped spaghetti on the corner of a kitchen bench till the it breaks into bite sized pieces.
- Boil the pasta for about 10 mins, or until al dente.
For the tomato sauce
- Finely dice the onion and garlic.
- Saute in a wide pan over medium heat with a pinch of salt and baharat spice till softened.
- Add the diced tomatoes and cook till reduced by half.
- If a smoother sauce is preferred, you can blend the tomato sauce in a blender after it's been cooked.
For the garlic vinegar
- Roughly chop garlic
- Lightly crush the cumin using a mortar and pestle or the bottom of a clean sauce pan
- Place into a small pot with vinegar and chopped garlic, and bring mixture to a boil.
- Turn the heat off and let cool to room temperature to infuse.
To serve
- Layer a large bowl or deep plate with rice, pasta, lentils, chickpeas, tomato sauce, and fried shallots.
- Serve with hot sauce and garlic vinegar.
Notes
*To add more flavour, I cook the rice the Persian way. Traditionally, this recipe just has rice boiled in salted water, but if you'd like, you can take the extra steps for the extra flavour!
**Baharat is a Middle Eastern mix of spices. This can vary slightly depending on the supplier of the mix, so I just get whatever I like the smell of.
**Baharat is a Middle Eastern mix of spices. This can vary slightly depending on the supplier of the mix, so I just get whatever I like the smell of.