Barley Bonanza

It is hard to keep a south Indian away from rice for too long - And yet, study after study claims that white rice is simple sugars and the carb of all carbs! With a strong diabetic gene in my family, and being luck enough to learn , I am exercising extreme caution with rice - This is not to say it is out of our lives - Hardly! But it only makes its appearance once or twice at the most in a week. That's been pretty good control for us - Heck who wouldn't trade a good rasam shaadam or sambar shaadam with a scrumptious curry on the side for a plate of raw veggies? H'uh?

By the way, the usage of Curry is rather loose - All it means in certain homes, like the one I come from, is a sauteed veggie on the side to be had with rice and lentil soups for want of a better word. 

I was going to call this dish Barley Baath until I googled the meaning of Baath, a Kannada word for rice - Ironic, given this is a substitute for that incredible white soft fluffy thing .... oh well..

I must tell you something about my barley experience. A good doctor who has been helping me overcome some joint pains suggested a change in dietary habits in which figured "puhl baali" - This is, I swear, how I'd made a notation - I thought that if I went to the store and showed it or asked for it, someone would recognize what it was - For the life of me I did not connect it to PEARL BARLEY - I kept going back to my list to check on other foods that were good for me and bang! Like a shot, it came to me - could it be pearl barley that he spake of in such affable terms? So, last night, I came home armed with 2 bags of it - caught a good sale - and  following instructions on the bag, soaked a couple of cups in water overnight. 

Ingredients: 

4-5 veggies of your choice: I picked onion, yellow squash, green bell pepper, red bell pepper and zucchini.

1 tsp of grated ginger - also amounts are as per desire (sample in picture below)

3 green chillies (optional for the faint hearted)

curry leaves

2 cups of barley soaked in water over night and pressure cooked for 10 minutes - if cooking in a covered pan, it will take longer; Microwave, my guess is about 8 minutes (not recommended)

2 teaspoons of olive oil or sesame oil

Salt to taste

Preparation:

Including chopping of veggies, but excluding the time it takes to cook the barley, this dish should not take more than 10-15 minutes. 

In a large pan, heat the oil and add some rosemary to it. Quickly add all the veggies and stir them around the pan in high heat. They will soften in a couple of minutes. Then add the barley on top and gently stir it into the veggie medley. Turn the mixture a few times until the barley is mixed in well with the veggies. Turn off stove.

Garnish: There are several garnishes that can be used for this - But cilantro is always a good choice, which is what I used today. Optional garnishes I've suggested are raisins, pine nuts and fresh squeezed lime for a tangy zest.  You can substitute pine nuts with peanuts, cashews or roasted almond slivers or walnuts even. 

This dish can be served hot or cold per personal choice. 

Secret tip: If you have a finicky child who is not into trying anything new, just grate a cheese of his/her choice and melt it over the dish. Although my older children have blind faith in my cooking skills - nothing mom makes can be bad - (praying that lasts forever) they are both cheese heads, born in Madison WI - Hence anything topped with cheese tastes better!

Hope the pictures below are appetizing enough to set the gastric juices flowing :-)