Vegan Curried Chickpea & Pearl Barley Risotto – Slow Cooker

This is my Vegan take on another of our Pearl Barley Risotto dishes, Slow Cooker Cajun Chicken & Pearl Barley Risotto. With just a few ingredient tweaks and still using a slow cooker, we have a fantastic Vegan Curried Chickpea & Pearl Barley Risotto which is creamy, full of flavour and worthy of any dinner table.

Using pearl barley is much healthier than using traditional risotto rice types such as Arborio rice, Carnaroli or the shorter-grain risotto rice, Vialone Niro but luckily, as the barley requires a longer cooking time than traditional risotto rice, the slow cooker is the perfect way to have a fantastic risotto whilst having most, if not all, of the work done for you.

From a Slim-Friendly point of view, the body takes longer to process these types of grains therefore not only is this a healthier option for your risotto, but it will also keep you fuller for longer too.

Ingredients:

Fry-Light Spray Oil: Using Fry-Light spray oil or a few sprays of low-calorie oil makes this dish so much healthier than a standard risotto without losing out on the natural creamy starch released from the pearl barley.

Mirepoix – A mirepoix base is generally made from diced vegetables, typically carrots, onions and celery and cooked, usually with butter, oil, or other fat—for a long time on low heat without colouring or browning. I simply use carrots and onion with a little fry-light or low-calorie spray oil and a little water to help Sautee the Mirepoix mix. I usually use the base mix of three ingredients:

Onions: I prefer to add diced red onion in this dish to help keep that deep colour throughout the risotto but to be honest, you can use any type of onion you want, and if I was not using a red onion, I would probably opt for some diced banana shallots.

Carrots: I simply use shop-bought carrots diced into similar-sized chunks as the onions.

Curry Spice Mix: I like to use a simple spice mix for most of my curried dishes made up of freshly grated ginger, crushed garlic, turmeric and garam masala. If you do not have some of these spices in your store cupboard,  a pre-mixed curry powder will be just as good.

Garlic: I prefer to thinly slice the garlic into shards and add it to the pot. This adds another light layer of texture to the risotto however, it is your dish, and it works just as well with crushed garlic if you prefer.

Red Chillies: 2 Chillies, deseeded and sliced will be enough to bring a lovely heat to the dish but if you prefer your dish a little spicier, leave the seeds in the chillies when slicing.

Spices: To make my curry spice mix I simply combine some garam masala, chilli powder, Turmeric, ginger, Dried Oregano, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Salt, & Ground black Pepper. If you do not have some of these ingredients in your cupboard, you can also simply use some shop-bought curry powder mix.

Chickpeas: It is a well-known fact that chickpeas are full of protein and fiber and when protein and fiber work together in the body, it helps to slow digestion which can help to keep you fuller for longer making it a great main component to this Vegan Risotto dish.

Grains or Rice: For this dish, I am using Pearl Barley as an alternative to Arborio of Carnaroli rice as it is just as creamy, and has a lovely texture to it but it takes a little longer to cook than risotto rice types, it makes it perfect for my slow cooker. All of this being sad, if you don’t want to use pearl barley, standard risotto rice such as Arborio and Carnaroli rice will work just as well and can also be cooked on the stovetop.

Stock: I make my base stock with a couple of Knorr Vegan -friendly vegetable stock cubes and some boiling water. 

Remember…  Using a good quality stock means that you end up with a great quality tasting risotto!

Fresh Herbs: I like to use some freshly chopped parsley to bring a little contracting colour to the finished dish.

Bringing it all together:

Add a few sprays of Fry-Light or low calory spray oil to a frying pan on medium-high heat, add the Mirepoix base mix of diced onions and carrots, garlic and sliced chilli and Sauté for 5-6 minutes stirring occasionality to ensure that all of the mix is cooking evenly. If the pan becomes a little dry, add a splash of water to help sauté the base mix.

Add the curry spice and the pearl barley to the frying pan, and continue to cook out until the spices have released their flavours and have coated all of the barley. Transfer to a slow cooker.

Add the chickpeas,  and stock to the slow cooker, season with salt and freshly cracked black pepper, cover and cook on high power setting for 2 1/2 to 3 hours or until the pearl barley has absorbed most of the liquid and become slightly aldante (cooked but still a little firm to the bite).

Remove from the heat and add grated vegan cheese, stir in until fully combined. Adjust the seasoning where required, finish the dish with some freshly chopped parsley and serve.

Once completely cooled, your risotto will keep in the fridge for up to 3

Vegan Curried Chickpea & Pearl Barley Risotto

Recipe by Steve WalkerCourse: Featured, Latest, Mediterranean, Rice Dishes, Slimming Friendly, Slow-Cooker, VeganDifficulty: Easy

Servings

6
servings

Prep time

15
minutes

Cooking Time

2-3
Hours

Slow Cooker Curried Chickpea & Pearl Barley Risotto is a great way to have a fantastic risotto dish with a pearl barley twist.

Ingredients

• Fry-Light Spray Oil.

• 1 Tin Chickpeas

• 1 Medium onion, diced.

• Garlic, sliced or crushed.

• 1 Large carrot, diced.

• 1 red chilli, deseeded and sliced.

• 300g Pearl Barley

• Salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste

• Freshly chopped coriander to garnish

• 1 Tsp. Garam Masala.

• 1/2 Tsp. Chilli Powder

• 1/2 Tsp. Turmeric (optional for colour).

• 2 Large garlic cloves, crushed or grated.

• 1 Tsp. freshly grated ginger

• 1/2 Tsp. table salt

• 1/2 Tsp. ground black pepper

Directions

• Add a few sprays of Fry-Light or low calory spray oil to a frying pan on medium-high heat, add the Mirepoix base mix of diced onions and carrots, garlic and sliced chilli and Sauté for 5-6 minutes stirring occasionality to ensure that all of the mix is cooking evenly. If the pan becomes a little dry, add a splash of water to help sauté the base mix.
• Add the curry spice and the pearl barley to the frying pan, and continue to cook out until the spices have released their flavours and have coated all of the barley. Transfer to a slow cooker.
• Add the chickpeas,  and stock to the slow cooker, season with salt and freshly cracked black pepper, cover and cook on high power setting for 2 1/2 to 3 hours or until the pearl barley has absorbed most of the liquid and become slightly aldante (cooked but still a little firm to the bite).
• Remove from the heat and add grated vegan cheese, stir in until fully combined. Adjust the seasoning where required, finish the dish with some freshly chopped parsley and serve.

Recipe Video

Notes

• If the pan becomes a little dry during the sautéing of the diced vegetable mix, add a splash of water to help sauté the mix.
• The better the vegetable stock you use, the better and tastier the finished dish.
• If you do not have some of these ingredients in your cupboard, you can also simply she some shop bought Cajun Spice mix.
• If you don’t not want to use pearl barley, standard risotto rice such as Arborio and Carnaroli rice will work just as well and can also be cooked on the stovetop.
• Parmesan cheese is an optional ingredient as the risotto barley will already be creamy due to the releasing of the starch within the grains during the cooking process but I think that it really does add a little flavourful finish to the dish.

Plan-ahead & cook-ahead meals:

This risotto dish is also great as a batch-cooking and freezing dish. Wait until the risotto has cooled completely before transferring it to freezer-friendly containers. You can freeze this dish for up to 12 weeks and you must allow the dish to thaw completely, preferably overnight before reheating.

To reheat, you can use either a microwave or a cooking pot. As risotto rice and barley continue to absorb moisture, you may need to add some additional liquid to the pot or container during the reheating to loosen off the risotto.

Do you need to pre-soak the pearl barley?

No, you don’t need to soak the pearl barley before use, it will get tender while cooking and absorbing the vegetable stock. The cooking time of pearl barley is shorter than regular barley and only needs about 30 minutes of cooking time.

Can I reheat the pearl barley risotto?

Yes, pearl barley risotto holds better than regular rice risotto, so you can make it ahead or as meal-prep, and then just reheat it on the stove or in the microwave. Bear in mind that as it cools, it will soak up the liquids and may get dry – I like to just add a splash of water when reheating it.