My previously-confessed love affair with buckwheat is still burning hot. Here’s this week’s buckwheat creation: a hearty and flavourful main course stew.
Ingredients:
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp black cherry vinegar (or use balsamic vinegar – preferably caramelised – if you can’t find black cherry)
2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup raw buckwheat groats
1 medium onion, peeled and diced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
2 cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1 celery stalk, finely diced
1 bunch kale, de-stemmed and finely chopped
2 cup water
1 head broccoli, cut into florets
1 cup plain soy yoghurt
1 tbsp tamarind purée
Method:
Preheat oven to 200°C. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
In a large bowl, toss sweet potato with maple syrup, vinegar and cinnamon. Spread out on lined tray and bake for 20 minutes. Toss gently with a spoon, then return to oven and bake for another 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, toast buckwheat in a frying pan over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, stirring frequently to avoid burning. Transfer buckwheat to a bowl.
Place frying pan back on hotplate at high heat until it reaches the mercury ball stage – i.e. water flicked into the pan rolls around the pan like a mercury ball before evaporating. Add onion and stir vigorously until onion begins to darken. Add garlic and ginger and continue to stir vigorously for 30 seconds. Add celery and kale, and stir until kale is wilted. Add toasted buckwheat and water, reduce heat to medium, cover pan and simmer for 10 minutes, checking from time to time to make sure it’s not catching on the bottom of the pan; if it does, add a little more water and reduce heat.
Add broccoli florets and cook, covered, for 5 minutes or until broccoli is just becoming tender.
Add sweet potato, stirring carefully to avoid breaking it up.
Mix soy yoghurt with tamarind purée.
Spoon ragout into serving bowls and serve with a dollop of tamarind yoghurt on top.
