Basmati, Wild Rice, Chickpeas & Herbs

My dinner tonight was definitely inspired by my current Top Chef obsession/distraction/enjoyment. I cooked three different recipes for dinner - including one that involved lightly (GF) flouring some thinly sliced onions and frying them. Omg. They were amazing. Three dishes for one meal is very fancy, especially when cooking just for me. But totally worth it - I will make this meal, or something similar, when I am able to eat with other people again.

So - the three dishes are all sort of middle eastern themed, and two are from the Ottolenghi cookbook Jerusalem, which I have on loan. Thanks, mom. And thanks auntie Mary for buying my mom this cookbook (which I have previously pined after, along with their first cookbook, Plenty.) I made a schwarma style burger (which I actually made last night), roasted sweet potatoes with tahini sauce, and a basmati and wild rice dish with chickpeas. Yum. The rice dish was the star of the show and I kind of couldn't stop eating it. It is worth frying those onions and I made my basmati exactly as specified. (I only had parsley, and used dried dill and no cilantro. I also didn't have currants, so used raisins instead. Am including the original recipe below.)

Basmati & Wild Rice with Chickpeas, Currents & Herbs Serves 6
1/3 c wild rice
2 1/2 T olive oil
rounded 1 c basmati rice
scant 1 1/2 c boiling water
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 1/2 tsp curry powder
1 1/2 c cooked chickpeas (I used canned)
3/4 c sunflower oil (I used coconut oil with no discernible taste issues)
1 med onion, thinly sliced
1 1/2 tsp flour (I used an all purpose GF flour mix)
2/3 c currants
2 T chopped flat leaf parsley
1 T chopped cilantro
1 T chopped dill
salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Start by putting the wild rice in a small saucepan, cover with plenty of water, bring to a boil, and leave to simmer about 40 minutes until the rice is cooked but still quite firm. Drain and set aside.
2. To cook the basmati rice, pour 1 T of olive oil into a med saucepan with a tightly fitting lid and place over high heat. Add the rice and 1/4 tsp salt and stir as you warm up the rice. Carefully add the boiling water, decrease the heat to very low, cover the pan with the lid, and leave to cook for 15 minutes.
3. Remove the pan from the heat, cover with a clean tea towel and then the lid, and leave off the heat for 10 minutes.
4. While the rice is cooking, prepare the chickpeas. Heat the remaining 1 1/2 T olive oil in a small saucepan over high heat. Add the cumin seeds and curry powder, wait for a few seconds, and then add the chickpeas and 1/4 tsp salt; make sure you do this quickly or the spices may burn in the oil. Stir over the heat for a minute or two, just to heat the chickpeas, then transfer to a large mixing bowl.
5. Wipe the saucepan clean, pour in the sunflower or coconut oil, and place over high heat. Make sure the oil is hot (a small piece of onion thrown in should sizzle vigorously). Use your hands to mix the onion with the flour to coat it slightly. Take some of the onion and carefully place it in the oil. Fry for 2-3 minites, until golden brown, then transfer to paper towels or a paper bag to drain, and sprinkle with salt. Repeat in batches until all of the onion is fried.
6. Finally, ass both types of rice to the chickpeas and then add the currants, herbs, and fried onion. Stir, taste, and add salt and pepper as you like. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Schwarma burger with Tahini-"yogurt" sauce (my "yogurt" was lemon juice & coconut milk)