brown basmati rice cakes with lemon carrots. Wholemeal basmati is a cereal very rich in mineral salts, fiber and polyunsaturated fatty acids. Here’s how to prepare it!

Dealma Franceschetti

Basmati rice is best known in its refined version, the one we find in oriental restaurants. But you need to know that integral also exists and it’s definitely a better choice.

Its particular name means in Hindi, rich in innate aroma . It is in fact a very fragrant and particular rice .

Wholemeal basmati is a precious cereal, very rich in mineral salts , fibers and polyunsaturated fatty acids.

With the arrival of spring it is useful to start using the various types of long grain rice , for their more yin energy , compared to the round grain, more yang , therefore more wintry. The elongated grain is also more effective in helping us lose weight…but it must be whole !

• 150 g of wholemeal basmati
• 3 carrots
• 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
• 1 lemon
• poppy seedsfor garnish
• whole sea salt

How to prepare brown basmati rice cake

Wash the basmati and cook it covered with double the volume of water and a pinch of salt for about 20 minutes. Then turn off and let it rest covered for 10 minutes.

In the meantime, clean the carrots and cut them into small pieces. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan and brown them for a few minutes. Add a little water so they don’t burn and simmer covered for about 10 minutes. The cooking time depends on the size of the cut.

Towards the end of cooking, add the soy sauce and cook for a few more minutes. Then turn it off.

Grate the lemon peel , or peel it with a potato peeler and then cut the peel into thin strips. Squeeze the juice from half a lemon and add it to the pan with the carrots . Also add the peel. (I pureed about half of the rice , but that’s optional. I mixed the pureed and whole rice with the carrots .)

Mix the rice (whether partially blended or not) with the carrots and transfer to a baking dish lined with parchment paper. Bake at 180° for 15-20 minutes. Garnish with poppy seeds , a few strips of lemon peel and, if necessary, salt with a sprinkling of gomasio .