Goji Berry and Green Pea Pilau

2 dsp olive oil
2 small cinammon sticks
1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 large onion, thinly sliced
2 small carrots, grated
300g basmati rice
1/2 tsp salt
1 handful dried goji berries
2 handfuls green peas.
4 eggs
1 tbsp white vinegar

Pour the oil into a deep pan with a thick base, and add the cinammon and cumin. Heat gently, until the seeds begin to pop. Add the onion and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. When the onion is soft, add the carrots and cook for a further 2-3 minutes. In between stirring the vegetables, boil the kettle and wash the rice.

Stir the rice into the pan, and add the salt and 600ml boiling water. Put the lid on and cook very gently for the time shown on the packet instructions (about 15 minutes.) Meanwhile, pour boiling water over the peas and Goji berries, to defrost/ re-hydrate them.

Check the rice. It should be just about cooked, with no water left in the bottom of the pan. Leave it to stand with the lid on for 10 minutes, while you poach your eggs. Finally, fluff it up with a fork, drain the peas and goji berries and add them on top, mixing them in a little.

If you don’t already have a favourite method for poaching eggs, this is how I do mine.

Fill a BIG pan (I use a pressure cooker) with at least one kettle’s worth of boiling water, and a tablespoon of vinegar. Any kind will do, but I use white because it doesn’t discolour the eggs. Break one egg into a small bowl, and when the water’s on a rolling boil, slip the egg in. Do it quickly, and not from a height. The little bowl and the vinegar help the egg to keep its shape: without them you’ll get strings of egg throughout the water. You won’t be able to taste the vinegar on the eggs.

Use a slotted spoon to remove the egg after about 90 seconds. (This varies depending on the size and temperature of the eggs. Mine were room temperature, medium.) The outside should be set, the yolk runny. Drain it on kitchen paper, dabbing carefully at it without breaking the yolk. Serve it onto a bowl of rice, and break open the yolk (I sprinkled rock salt and sumac onto mine. Delicious.) If the egg is perfect, do the others the same, or amend as necessary. If your pan is big enough, you might be able to do 2 or 3 at once.