Legend has it that black venus rice is a potent aphrodisiac, hence why it's named after the Goddess of Love. Apparently up until the 18th century it was cultivated exclusively for the Chinese Emperor and his court, and is also known as 'the Forbidden Rice' as common Chinese folk were strictly forbidden from growing or consuming it!
This type of rice, though less popular than others, is the most nutritious. Black rice is richest in antioxidants, anti-inflammatory properties, dietary fiber, and a good source of iron. It helps detoxify the body, encourages heart health, immune health, digestion, and helps slow down absorption of sugar in the blood. It takes a little longer to cook than some other types of rice, and so soaking it for several hours prior to cooking can reduce the time it takes. Doing this also makes the nutrients more absorbable.
The rice has a delicious nutty, almost sweet taste, and is similar to regular wholegrain rice in texture. The red curry I made using beetroot and sweet potato as the main flavours, which compliment the rice very well. I wanted to create a striking-looking dish, and I think the black, red and white make the plate look impressive for wow-ing your family or guests with!
What you will need: (makes enough for 2 people for 2 meals)
100g (per person) organic black venus rice
2 beetroots
1 small sweet potato
1 large red onion
6 cloves garlic
1 jar organic tomato passata
1 tin organic coconut milk
1 tsp sea salt
2 tsp black pepper
1 tblsp paprika
1 tblsp cinnamon
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp curry powder
1/2 red pepper
1 cup cooked cannellini beans*
* I always have a stash of cooked-from-dried beans in little jars in the freezer, which is super handy if you do a lot of vegetarian cooking. Please see my previous post on the easiest way to batch cook beans.
Method:
Put the rice into a saucepan and cover with cold water. Allow to soak for several hours before cooking for optimum nutrition absorption and reduced cooking time. Bring to the boil, and then reduce heat to simmer for about 35-40 minutes, or a little longer if you didn't pre-soak.
Peel and roughly chop the beetroot, sweet potato, onion and garlic. Mince in a food processor or manual veg chopper.
Saute in a tablespoon of coconut or olive oil for about 10 minutes until softened.
Add the tomato passata, coconut milk and all the spices. Simmer for about 15 minutes. When you first add the coconut milk the curry will appear a peachy colour, but the red colour returns as it thickens and will end up a lovely bright red.
Dice the red pepper and saute in a teaspoon of coconut or olive oil for a few minutes until it starts to soften.
Add the cannellini beans and heat for 5 minutes until piping hot.
Drain the rice and spoon it onto a dinner plate, making a bed for the curry. Spoon the pepper & beans on top, and serve! Any left-over curry can be frozen for a future meal.
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Many thanks.
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All photos in this post are my own original.
Logo kindly created for me by @papa-pepper