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Budget vegan vegetable rice

By: Nieves Barragán

Published: 11 Feb 20
Updated: 18 Mar 24

This is the recipe chef Nieves Barragán, founder of Michelin-starred restaurant Sabor in London, brought back from a trip to a refugee camp in Bangladesh where hundreds of mouths were being fed on a tiny budget. The recipe shows how possible it is to create nutritious food from very little.

Nieves’ trip was in support of the charity Action Against Hunger, which is working tirelessly to improve nutrition and bring an end to world hunger.

Nieves said: “My visit to Bangladesh showed that, even in the most challenging of situations, food has the power to inspire us, unite us, and lift our spirits”

Easy
Online only

Test kitchen approved

Serves 4-6
Hands-on time 30 min

Nieves’ trip was in support of the charity Action Against Hunger, which is working tirelessly to improve nutrition and bring an end to world hunger.

Nieves said: “My visit to Bangladesh showed that, even in the most challenging of situations, food has the power to inspire us, unite us, and lift our spirits”

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Ingredients

125ml light olive oil
1 green chilli, finely chopped
½ tbsp fresh ginger, grated
2 garlic cloves, crushed
3 bay leaves
½ tbsp each ground turmeric and ground cumin
½ tbsp each coriander seeds and fennel seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
400g butternut squash or pumpkin, deseeded, peeled and cut into 2cm cubes
150ml vegetable stock (check it’s vegan if necessary)
2 onions, cut into slim wedges
2 courgettes, sliced into half-moons
250g green beans
Basmati rice and fresh coriander leaves to serve

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Method

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan set over a low-medium heat. Fry the chilli, ginger, garlic, bay leaves and spices for a minute or so until fragrant.
Add the squash/pumpkin and a splash of the vegetable stock to loosen, stir well, then gently cook for 10 minutes until starting to soften. Add the onions, courgettes and the rest of the vegetable stock and cook for a further 10 minutes (see tips), then finally add the green beans and cook for 5 minutes more until all the vegetables are tender.
Season generously to taste with salt and ground black pepper and serve with basmati rice, sprinkled with fresh coriander leaves.

Recipe from Online only Issue

delicious. tips

Use the same quantities of any other seasonal vegetables to make this recipe at other times of the year. Add a tin of coconut milk along with the green beans for a richer, more soupy meal, if you like.