Vegetable tiep rice, a vegetarian recipe

Name: Vegetable tiep rice
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 70 min
Total time: 95 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Senegal
Ingredients: 400 g white rice (broken rice if you can find it); ¼ white cabbage, in large wedges; 3 carrots, in chunks; 1 aubergine, in large pieces; 1 sweet potato, in large cubes; 1 tin white beans (240 g drained); 2 onions, sliced; 4 garlic cloves, chopped; 3 tbsp tomato purée; 4 tbsp oil; 1 whole fresh chilli (optional); 1 vegetable stock cube labelled gluten free; 1.5 L water; Salt and pepper

Method

Heat the oil in a large casserole. Add the tomato purée and onions and fry for 5 minutes, stirring, until a deep brick colour.
Add the garlic, stock cube, pepper and water. Bring to the boil.
Add the cabbage, carrots and whole chilli. Cook for 30 minutes, keeping the vegetables submerged.
Add the aubergine, sweet potato and white beans. Cook for 20 more minutes. Lift out the vegetables gently and keep warm.
Set aside half the broth for serving. Rinse the rice, put it in the casserole with the remaining broth, top up with water to just cover, put the lid on and cook over low heat for 25 minutes without stirring.
Fluff the rice, serve with the vegetables arranged on top and spoon over plenty of sauce.

Fry the tomato purée in the oil until it darkens and the oil separates before any liquid goes in. That step gives the rice its colour and depth. Broken rice, typical of Senegal, soaks up the sauce best.

The techniques this recipe uses

Drain and rinse
Canning liquid clouds a sauce and salts it blind: rinse until the water runs clear.

Frequently asked questions

Why fry the tomato purée for so long?

That is where the rice gets its colour and flavour. Five minutes in hot oil with the onions, stirring, until it turns brick red and begins to catch on the base: the purée loses its raw acidity and develops depth that water alone never gives.

Why lift the vegetables out before cooking the rice?

They are already tender after their 30 to 50 minutes and would fall apart during the rice's 25 minutes. Keep them warm and arrange them back over the rice at serving, whole and recognisable.

Do I really need broken rice?

Broken rice, standard in Senegal, drinks the sauce faster and more completely than whole long-grain and gives the dish its characteristic texture. Long-grain works, but stays drier and less deeply coloured.

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Vegetable tiep rice

Method

The techniques this recipe uses

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Nutrition per serving

Frequently asked questions

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