ROOT VEG, MUNG BEAN AND RICE WREATH WITH WALNUT, CRANBERRY AND CORIANDER CRUNCH
Somewhere between my Mung Bean Bread and my Rice and Chickpea Fritters, but with way more embellishments for extra festive sprinkle, sits this new recipe for Christmas. It’s actually inspired by the Gujarati dish ‘handvo’ which I make all the time but haven’t actually shared on the website yet! This festive wreath is a veg packed fusion of Indian influences - mung beans, basmati and spices - with festive flavours from cranberries, walnuts and chestnuts. I first made this with butternut as my vegetable of choice grated into the mix, but since you only use part of a butternut I decided it’s much more practical to use a few carrots. I bet parsnips would work too!
Ideally, soak the mung beans and basmati the morning before you want to serve it, then drain and blend and leave overnight on the counter top to ferment a little for optimum digestibility - but don’t worry an overnight soak and blend to use it straight away will also suffice. This batter is a gluten-free, wholefood base with all the amino acids needed to make a protein so it’s filling and satisfying while also affordable. It’s then brought to life with chopped chestnuts, cranberries and spices before it's baked in the oven - I use a wide shallow circular tart tin with a small pudding basin in the middle to create a makeshift wreath mould. Bake it for 20 mins or so before placing on a large flat dish or board to serve. Sprinkle the toasted walnuts with spices and herbs on top to bring the wreath to life visually along with adding a satisfying, fresh, sweet and sour crunch! Coriander is not usually what I think of for Christmas but it’s what was in my fridge when experimenting and the taste testers say it stays!
NB If you plan to cook this on the big day, I would thoroughly recommend trying it out in advance first. You could also try and prep the wreath and freeze it ahead of time before letting it come to room temperature and baking, but I’m not sure how that would affect the texture re the activation of the bicarbonate of soda - I’ve done it for sweet recipes before with success but not had a chance yet with this one!
INGREDIENTS
For the wreath:
150g mung dal, soaked (see below)
150g basmati rice, soaked
Just under 1/2 cup of water
1 tsp finely grated ginger*
2 cloves of garlic, minced
¼ tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp asafoetida (hing)
Scant 1 tsp sea salt
¼ tsp black pepper
2 tsp baking powder
250g coarsely grated carrot
180g precooked chestnuts, chopped into chunks
25g of dried cranberries
1 medium red onion, diced
4 tsp lemon juice
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tbs of sesame seeds
Extra virgin olive oil to grease
To top:
2 tbsp ghee or coconut oil
3 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp carom seeds (ajwain)
75g dried cranberries
75g walnuts halves or pieces
1 tbs balsamic vinegar
1tbs coconut sugar/2 tsp maple syrup
¼ tsp sea salt
25g fresh coriander/parsley or a mix of both
To decorate:
Fresh cranberries or pomegranate seeds
METHOD
Soak the mung dal and basmati overnight in double the amount of water (if short on time soak in hot water for a few hours).
Drain the mung dal and basmati rice well and then add to a blender with just under ½ cup of water. Gently blend to a smoothish paste, scraping down the sides as you go . The texture of the batter will depend on how long the mung beans and rice have soaked so add a tablespoon or more of water if they haven’t soaked for a long time to help it blend. Be careful not add too much water.
If the mixture is too runny, sift in some gram flour, a tablespoon at a time, to thicken to a thick, pourable paste..
Transfer the batter to a glass or ceramic bowl. At this point you can leave the batter, for a few hours or overnight, on the counter to allow it to ferment slightly.
To cook:
Preheat the oven to 180ºC (fan 160ºC/gas mark 4).
Line a tart/flan tin 12 inch/30cm diameter** with baking paper.
Use a small ovenproof bowl to create the centre of the wreath (I used an upside down glass pyrex bowl that was 6 inches/15cm in diameter) and set in the centre of the tart tin. Using extra virgin olive oil or your favourite cooking fat lightly grease the edge of the bowl up to about 1 inch AS WELL AS the baking paper so that the wreath can easily be removed.
To the batter, add the garlic, ginger, salt, black pepper, smoked paprika, asafoetida, and baking powder, and mix well.
Add the diced onions, grated carrot, precooked chestnuts and 25g of dried cranberries, and mix well. Then add the lemon juice and baking powder and gently stir to combine everything.
Spoon the mixture into the tin, keeping the bowl centred and smooth the top.
Sprinkle over the sesame seeds and dot with ghee or drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and bake for 20-23mins until golden brown on top.
To make the topping:
In a large frying pan gently toast the walnuts until fragrant, set aside to cool and then roughly chop them if they are walnuts halves.
Heat 2 tbsp of ghee or coconut oil in the same frying pan on a medium flame and add the mustard seeds. When it starts to splutter, add the carom seed and sauté for a few seconds.
Add 75 g of dried cranberries, salt, coconut sugar, balsamic vinegar and toasted walnuts and saute for a couple of minutes until the balsamic vinegar and coconut sugar have caramelised. Set aside to cool.
To assemble:
Remove the wreath from the oven and allow to cool slightly before removing from the tart tin. I pick it up from the tin using the sides of the baking paper on to the serving plate.
At this point, check the baking paper is easily loosened from the wreath - which it should be if you have greased it well but always good to check! Then pull the centre of the baking paper from the middle like a magician ha ha!
Roughly chop the coriander/parsley and gently fold it into the spiced walnut and cranberry mixture and then sprinkle this crunch on top of the wreath.
Decorate with whole and halved fresh cranberries which add a pop of colour and a delicious tart flavour. Pomegranate seeds will look and taste great too.
East by West tip:
Be sure to serve the wreath hot but add the crunch topping just before serving to stop the fresh herbs from wilting! Something you can do if you’ve the wreath is baked but it’s taking a little longer to get it to the table, is grill it to heat it again - this will give it a lovely golden crunchy crust on top too. Then add your herby crunch on top at the last minute.
*Freeze the ginger root first and then grate it - so easy and no more fibres clogging up the grater!
**If you don’t have all the props to make a large wreath then use a smaller round baking dish/tin, and bake like a cake - you can always use a round drinking glass or cookie cutter to pop the centre out if you like
For extra pizazz you can garnish with a cashew cream or for ease, thin a shop bought hummus with some warm water and drizzle over