One handy hack for translating hearty, long-braise dishes into speedy midweekers is to lean on leftovers. In my kitchen, when it comes to carbs like potatoes or rice, I have a hard and fast rule: always cook double.
If a recipe calls for boiled potatoes, cook twice as many. When I’m chucking rice in the rice cooker, I’ll make six servings instead of three.
This gives you a 20 minute head start the next night, so you’re already halfway to tea. It’s double, double minus the toil and trouble.
For a quick fried rice, toss yesterday’s rice in a hot wok with neutral oil, kimchi and spring onion. For a lightning-fast tortilla, chop up those extra boiled potatoes and fry in olive oil until golden, add a beaten egg and pop under the grill.
Carbs are especially compliant when recooked: the time you save on cooking can be spent crispening – and they crispen up a treat. That’s because the natural sugars turn to starch when cooled in the fridge, which might be useful for those looking to lower the GI of starchy foods, and handier still when you’re looking to achieve golden crunchy bits – like in today’s recipe for golden basmati and potatoes, a weekday double-carb biryani-ish beauty.
But a note of carby caution. You need to consume rice within 24 to 48 hours of the first cook. But you can also extend this time if you portion it into single serves, label with the date and freeze it flat – like your own little precooked pouches. If you’ve been using the microwave variety, DIY-ing them will save a motzah. They’ll keep in the freezer for up to six months.
Cooked potatoes are best consumed within three to four days of cooking, but even these can be frozen – for up to a year! They make the best roast spuds too – simply heat an oven tray along with the oven to 200C fan, coat the base generously with oil and toss the spuds about in it before placing back into the oven for 40-odd minutes, giving the tray the occasional shake until the potatoes are golden brown. Get ready for the glassiest crack to ever grace your dinner table.
Masala mushy peas with golden basmati and potatoes – recipe
While we’re on (in!) the freezer, think of these masala mushy peas as a fresh pea “dal”. While traditional recipes call for dried split peas, we are neither drying nor splitting the green peas but simply pulling them from the freezer.
Once you’ve cooked them as you would for mushy peas, and spiced them, as you would for a masala dal, it’s a super easy 20-min-din, done in the time it takes to bring together the crispy rice and potatoes. Brilliant!
Serves 4
For the golden basmati and potato
1½ cups basmati rice (or 3 cups leftover rice)
600g potato, cooked or raw
1 cup olive oil
20g butter
1 red onion, peeled and finely sliced into rings
2 tbsp panch phoron (to make your own, combine 1 tbsp each of whole nigella seeds, fennel seeds, cumin seeds, brown mustard seeds, and 1 tsp ground fenugreek or fenugreek seeds; store in an airtight container)
½ tsp sugar
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
5cm piece of ginger, minced
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp salt
For the masala mushy peas
1 brown onion
5 cloves garlic, peeled
5cm piece ginger, peeled
6 coriander stalks, including roots, stems and leaves, washed well
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
¼ tsp mild chilli powder
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp ground turmeric
½ tsp garam masala
2 tsp salt
½ tsp sugar
1 x 270g tin coconut cream, ¼ cup reserved for garnish
1 cup vegetable stock
500g packet frozen baby peas
50g baby spinach leaves, washed and spun
Lime wedges and natural yoghurt, to serve
For the golden basmati and potatoes: if using uncooked rice, cook rice to packet instruction. If using raw potatoes, boil for 25 minutes or until fork-tender.
While the potatoes are boiling, in a medium heavy-bottomed pan with a lid, gently warm the oil and butter over a medium heat. Add the onion, panch phoron and sugar and sweat for 10 minutes. Turn down the heat to medium-low and add the garlic, ginger, turmeric and salt and cook, stirring occasionally, for five to seven minutes until the onion is very soft and glossy. Turn off the heat, transfer the mixture to a bowl, and reserve the oily pan for your golden basmati and potatoes.
While the onion is cooking, prepare the masala peas. In a food processor, blitz the onion, garlic, ginger, coriander roots and stems, and most of the leaves, until well-combined into a paste. (Reserve some coriander leaves for garnish, and place in a bowl of chilled water to keep them fresh and sprightly.)
In a heavy-based saucepan, heat the two tablespoons of oil over medium-high heat, then add the onion paste, all the ground spices, salt and sugar, then cook for five to six minutes, stirring occasionally, or until heavily fragrance and raw onion flavour has cooked out.
Add the coconut cream (reserving the ¼ cup for garnish) and bring to the boil, then add the stock, reduce the heat to medium and simmer for five minutes. Add the drained frozen peas and bring back to the boil, then reduce the heat to medium and simmer for four minutes. Stir through the spinach leaves and cook for one minute or until wilted. Remove saucepan from the heat and allow to cool slightly.
While the peas are cooling, return to the rice and potatoes. Drain the potatoes (if cooking from raw). Add the one cup of olive oil to the already oily pan and place over a medium heat. Add the potatoes and stir to coat well; then add the rice and stir to combine. Using a spatula or wooden spoon, flatten the rice against the bottom and sides of the pan, cover with a lid and cook for three to four minutes until the potatoes and rice start to crisp on the edges of the pan. Pour the onion mix back in and stir to combine until everything is brilliantly sunshine-hued.
Return to the peas in the saucepan. With a stick blender, carefully blend the mixture to achieve a consistent, but still chunky, texture (be careful when blending – the mixture is hot and may splutter). Season to taste.
To serve, drain the reserved coriander leaves. Place golden basmati and potatoes on a serving platter and pour over the mushy peas, drizzle over the yoghurt and reserved coconut cream, sprinkle with coriander leaves and serve with lime wedges.
