Eating In

80 g whole lentils
80 g red rice
1 red onion, finely sliced
1 red pepper, finely sliced
1 courgette, halved lengthways and finely sliced
1 large carrot, grated
60 g organic dried apricots, finely chopped
80 g pistachio kernels, dry fried and then roughly chopped
2-3 red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
5 cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1½ tbsp black mustard seeds
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp sea salt
75 ml water
2 tbsp fresh coriander, finely chopped
3 tbsp groundnut oil
Wash and rinse the red rice (if you can’t find red rice, brown rice will do) and cook for 30 minutes or until just tender. Drain and rinse under cold water and reserve. While the rice is cooking, wash and rinse the lentils and cook for 25 minutes, or until they are just tender. Strain and refresh under cold water and reserve. Make the dressing by placing a large frying pan over a high heat and adding the oil. When the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds and the cumin seeds. Stir, and allow them to sizzle for 30 seconds before adding the chilli, garlic, ginger, ground coriander, ground cumin, salt and turmeric. Stir to combine and then remove the pan from the heat and stir in the lemon juice. Leave to cool. In a bowl combine the lentils, red rice, carrot, courgette, red pepper, red onion, apricots (we used sultanas as we had no apricots), pistachio and fresh coriander. Pour over the cooled dressing and stir it through the salad before serving.