Pearl Barley and Chickpeas

If you have never tried pearl barley before, this is the recipe you should start with.

This is a warm and comforting dish that you can enjoy at any time of the day in any season.
It is also a one-pot recipe!

Ingredients:

• Pearl barley - 120g
• Chickpeas (already boiled) - 120g
• Tomatoes - 2 large ones
• Ginger - 1 cm long piece (optional)
• Garlic - 1 clove (optional)
• Rosemary - half a sprig
• Coriander - a few leaves to garnish
• Other spices of your choice - salt, chilli, ground coriander, cumin etc.

Cooks best in a pressure cooker. Saves you time.

Prep

• Dice the tomatoes.
• Chop up the ginger and garlic if you are using them
• If you started with dry chickpeas, boil them. If you bought a can of boiled chickpeas, you can use them directly.
• Gather your spices

Cook

• Heat a couple of teaspoons of oil in your pot. Olive oil, sunflower oil... your choice.
• Add the chopped tomatoes, ginger and garlic.
• Toss in a pinch of salt and let the tomatoes get mushy.
• Add spices at this point. I added a pinch of chilli powder and ground coriander.
• Cook for a minute.
• Add the grains of pearl barley to the tomatoes. If you are adding rosemary, do it now.
• Pour in water at a ratio of 1 part barley to 2 parts water. If you used a cup of barley, add two cups of water.
• Close the lid and pressure cook for 12 minutes.
• After the barley has boiled, open the lid and add chickpeas.
• Cook the mixture for a minute or two.

Tip: if you are using a pressure cooker like mine, put it on high heat till the pressure indicator (not the whistle) rises up. Then, lower the heat to a minimum and cook for 12 minutes. The cooker should not whistle during cooking. You can adjust the time to get a more crunchy or more soggy result.

Garnish with fresh coriander leaver and serve hot.

The texture is a little crunchy and a little chewy.