Thai Style Barley Risotto

It is typical me that when we did the Barley Risotto last night, that I didn’t follow Bryanna’s recipe at all. In a way I only kept the name. It was delicious none the less, the reason was that I didn’t have all the ingredients at home but I did have the ingredients at home for something similar.

So here goes my version.

100gr Pearl Barley

Powdered Veg Stock

Water

Veg Oil and some Sesame Oil

1 Onion

2 gloves garlic

1 green chillie – deseeded

1 tbspoon thai red curry paste

optional: tbspoon rice vinegar

1 can Coconut milk

Soy sauce

Black Pepper

1 pepper (any colour you fancy)

1 cup of green peas

bunch of coriander – chopped

Method:

Bring the Pearl Barley to the boil with enough water to cover it, once it boils remove it from heat, drain and put the Barley back into the pot with some made up veg stock (enough to cover the Barley and more – the Barley like rice absorbs the water). I usually make the stock not too strong (twice the amount of water recommended for the unit of stock) because for me personally it would be too salty and too stocky…Bring the Barley to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes. At this point it will be still nutty and have some bite (Note: most packs will say cook for over an hour but this will make it very soft, almost slushy – that’s not what you want for this dish.)

About 15 minutes before the Barley has finished cooking, prepare your onion, garlic, chilli and pepper and get all your ingredients ready.

Heat the oils in a wok or large pan, add the onion, garlic and chilli and fry until they are starting to get soft, add the pepper, soy sauce and rice vinegar (if using), add the curry paste and stir, once all combined add the coconut milk. You might need to add up to a cup of water at this stage depending on the consistency of the coconut milk, the sauce at this point shouldn’t be too watery but not too thick either. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 1-2 minutes. Add your frozen peas (I prefer frozen to canned) and add the drained barley, stir and let it heat through.

Voila!

It was very yummy and very moreish – Dharma  had some for her lunch today and she polished the lot.

~ by Melanie on February 3, 2008.