Rainbow Rice

The other day I discovered chicken chorizo in the supermarket, imported from Sri Lanka. The round sausages looked plump, orange and appetizing. I felt my stomach grumble. Remember: If you want to lose weight or shop on a budget, don’t go shopping with an empty stomach.

On an impulse, I bought the vacuum-sealed, frozen packet and deposited it in my freezer.

There it remained for a few weeks while I pondered the question: What do I do with chicken chorizo?

Originally, I had planned to turn them into a condiment for pasta, fried with spring onions and garlic.

A few days ago however, I felt more like combining them with rice. I had just bought some beautiful, red rice from Goa. In my fridge I had some wonderfully crisp bell peppers and carrots. I added some fresh prawns to counteract the chemically treated chorizo with some healthy proteins and omega-3 fatty acids.

So I set out to prepare my rainbow rice, a hearty, spicy dinner that delivers a wealth of nutrition and some not so healthy stuff – but then: We live only once!

If you want to prepare a vegetarian version of this dish, just omit the chorizo and the prawns and add some vegetables and/or cheese of your choice.

Wishing you happy cooking, always!

Kornelia Santoro with family

Rainbow Rice

Ingredients:
(for 4 servings)

• 2 cups uncooked rice
• 2 chorizo sausages
• 500 grams peeled prawns
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 6 spring onions
• 4 big garlic cloves
• 3 cm ginger root
• 3 carrots
• 1 yellow bell pepper
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 2 tablespoons soya sauce

Method:

At first you have to boil the rice. Rinse the Goan red rice well under flowing water. Then drain it and place it with double the amount of water and a teaspoon of salt into a pressure cooker. I boil the rice for 15 minutes after the first whistle and open the pressure cooker as soon as possible, to let all the steam escape. 
Devein the prawns and blanch them: Bring about half a litre of water with a teaspoon of salt to a rolling boil and throw the prawns into the salt water. When it starts boiling again, leave the prawns for 10 seconds, then drain them and keep them aside. If you want to make sure they are not overcooked, place the drained prawns into a bowl of ice water. Honestly, I just drain them.

Boiling the prawns for 10 seconds ensures that you kill Salmonella and other harmful bacteria. I always blanch prawns for fried rice to be sure that they are properly cooked.
Now it is time to clean the vegetables. Prepare all the vegetables before starting to stir fry the rice. Clean and crush the garlic cloves. Clean and grate the ginger root. Wash the spring onions and chop them. Peel the carrots and grate them roughly. Wash the bell peppers and cut them into small pieces. Halve the chorizo sausages lengthwise and then slice them.
You can start to stir-fry, when all the ingredients are prepped. Heat the olive oil in a wok. While stirring constantly, add the spring onions, the garlic and the ginger. After one minute incorporate the chorizo. Fry these ingredients for three minutes while stirring constantly. The chorizo should start to melt its fatty bits and pieces.

Now add the carrots and then the rice in several batches. Make sure, you mix everything well. Season the rice with the different sauces and try. Adjust the seasoning according to your taste. If you like your dishes spicy, you might want to add some chopped chillies together with the spring onions at the beginning of the stir frying.
In the end combine the chopped bell peppers and the prawns and serve immediately. I do not fry the bell peppers because I want to preserve their high content of vitamin C and their crispiness.