Paella, Vegetarian by Achalamasi

Ready to eat

My Dearest Komal, Anjli and Amar,

A great summer recipe and a great reminder of our Spanish adventures too. A one dish meal, that if planned in advance is a ‘quick’ solution for one of your numerous meals. The total time required looks long but it is easy to make!

Ready to eat

Achalamasi’s Vegetarian Paella

Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Spanish
Keyword: Rice, vegetables
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Resting Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings: 4 people
Author: Achala
This Vibrant looking dish can also be made by adding seafood and/or meat. Our good friend Manolo always makes it on hot summer days on the shores of Lake Zurich. Perfect end to swimming in the lake.
Print Recipe

Equipment

  • Heavy based wide paella pan, usually round and shallow. See instructions.

Ingredients

  • 3 tbsp olive oil Spanish
  • 2 medium onions diced
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 2 green chillies finely chopped
  • 1 inch ginger grated
  • 200 g short grain paella rice (not Basmati) Such as Arroz Redonda, Bomba, Senia, Thaibonnet.
  • ½ tsp saffron strands infused in half liter of cold water
  • 2 tsp salt to taste
  • 1 tsp black pepper ground
  • ½ tsp turmeric powder

Vegetables for the first stage

  • 2 medium carrots diced
  • 100 g french beans topped and tailed and cut into 5 cm pieces
  • ½ red pepper diced
  • ½ yellow pepper diced

Stock

  • litre hot vegetable stock Made with I vegetable stock cube
  • extra hot water If required, add the extra water in stages.

Ingredients to add towards the end

  • 2 medium ripe tomatoes diced
  • 4 chestnut mushrooms diced
  • 10 preserved artichokes from bottle sliced
  • Juice of half a lemon

For garnish

  • 3 wedges lemon
  • 3 tbsp green coriander finely chopped

Instructions

  • Heat olive oil in the paella pan or any other heavy and wide bottom pan
    Paella Pan
  • Fry onions, garlic, ginger and green chilies, in that order. Fry until onions become translucent.
    In the beginning
  • Add rice and fry for a few minutes more.
    Spanish rice and saffron stock
  • Add the saffron water
    In the beginning
  • Add the other seasonings: salt, black pepper and turmeric. Fry for a few minutes more.
  • Add the carrots, peppers, and green beans and fry a further few minutes. Stirring all the time. To keep the vegetables crunchy, try not to overcook them at this stage. They will cook further with the rice later on.
    Prepared vegetables
  • Add the hot stock in batches (of about half a liter each) and keep stirring. Keep the heat to a medium setting.
    Colourful beginning
  • Depending on the rice and the amount of other ingredients, you might not use all the stock.
  • Keep cooking for another 15 to 20 minutes until the rice is cooked. If the rice is not fully cooked even after using all the prepared stock, then add the extra hot water. Always adding a little at a time and stirring after.
  • Sprinkle the lemon juice over the paella. Add the fresh tomatoes, mushrooms, artichokes and coriander just before serving
    mushrooms and artichokes
  • Cover the whole dish with tea towel and let it rest for 10 minutes before serving. The rice should be cooked but with a soft bite to it.
    Ready to eat

Notes

The finished dish should be served with generous wedges of lemon and big dollops of garlic butter.
Above is  a vegetarian variety, but you can add meat like strips of chicken and any other seafood ingredient. Remember to partially cook items like chicken and wedges of fish before starting the whole cooking process. To avoid overcooking, add prawns, mussels, clams, shrimps etc at the final stages of cooking.
error: Content is protected !!