This recipe came about after a visit to my family in St Lucia a couple of Christmases ago. During a discussion about grains, I realised that neither didn’t like barley or had no idea what to do with it.
I realized that I had only used it in soups once or twice before. That conversation inspired me to figure out how to cook barley and make it delicious. I created this recipe as a result of that conversation.
Nutrient dense, Nutty Barley
Barley is a whole grain and that it’s quite versatile. I did some research and wasn’t surprised to find out about all the health benefits of this nutty and chewy grain.
Pearl barley which I used for this recipe is a cereal grain that is readily available and affordable. It has a chewy pasta-like consistency and is high in fiber. It also has a glycemic index of 25 which is quite low and therefore doesn’t raise blood sugar levels rapidly.
So, I came up with this coconut curried barley and was surprised by the outcome. This simple and easy recipe works great as a side dish or as an ingredient in salads. One cup will yield approximately 3 cups when cooked. For this recipe, I used 2 cups of coconut cream water (leftover from another recipe that required coconut cream). With one cup of plain water. You may use 3 cups of plain water instead of coconut cream water.
Cooking with coconut milk can be tricky as it can sometimes boil over. It also has a tendancy to burn so be mindful of this.
How to cook
Place a pot on the stove and add the 2 cups coconut cream water and 1 cup plain water and bring to a boil. Once the liquid begins boiling, add the milk powder, coconut powder, and salt. Stir with a spoon to combine all of the ingredients.
Add the barley to the boiling curried water and stir. Cover the pot lightly leaving a small gap for steam to escape. This is important as it will prevent the liquid from boiling over. Cook on medium heat for approximately 30 mins. It’s ok if all of the liquid is not fully absorbed after 30 mins. Turn off the stove and cover the pot fully. Allow the curried barley to rest for approximately 10 to 15 minutes.
The barley will absorb the rest of the liquid and become nice and plump.
Once rested stir barley and serve hot as a side or main dish with your choice of protein and vegetables. Alternatively, allow it to cool, refrigerate and use for my Coconut Curried Barley Salad.
Coconut Curried Barley
Ingredients
- 1 cup barley
- 2 cups coconut cream water reserved from canned coconut cream, or use plain water
- 1 cup Plain water
- 1 tbsp Curry Powder
- 2 tbsp Coconut milk powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Place water in pot on stove and bring water to a boil.
- Add milk powder, curry powder and salt and stir until well combined.
- Add barley to boiling water and cover pot partially to ensure that thepot doesn’t boil over. Cook barley overmedium heat for approximately 30 mins or until all of the water is absorbed.
- If all of the water hasn’t absorbed by 30 mins. That’s absolutely fine.Turn off the heat and leave pot fully covered for approx. 10 minutes. Thebarley will absorb all of the remaining liquid, and will become plumper.
- Serve hot as a main or let cool and use in a salad.
