CALORIE DENSITY: 23% = 652kcal/(700ml x 4)
(Compare with Sugar: 95%, butter: 180%)
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COST: 48p (So don’t tell me that eating healthy food is expensive!)
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INGREDIENTS
- Rice 300ml (250g): 261kcal (300ml) Asda SP Long Grain Rice 1kg packet 42p = 3p
- Mushy Peas 300g: 276kcal (250ml) Asda SP Mushy Peas 300g can 16p
- Tuna Flakes 115g: 100kcal (100ml) Pound Stretcher Tuna Flakes in Brine 4 x 165g cans £1 = 25p
- Potato powder 30ml (15g): 50kcal (15ml) Asda SP Instant Mashed Potato 120g 28p = 4p
- Water 150ml: 0kcal (150ml) Tap – free
INSTRUCTIONS
- Pour a 300ml mug of rice into a large plastic container, add 3 mugs of water, sprinkle on Turmeric to make the rice look brown, do not add salt to increase the boiling point of the water as this reduces the amount of water the rice can absorb. In practice I prefer to add the Turmeric later for the same reason but the resulting colour is not so good but the resulting dish contains more Turmeric which has excellent anti-cancer properties.
- Heat in microwave for 10 mins on 800W and 15mins on 180W (single program if you can) with the lid on to prevent the water boiling away.
- Place the plastic container without the lid under a cold running tap until the water goes clear and then drain off the water without using a colander just to prove that you don’t need one! You can tell when you have rinsed it sufficiently because the cloudy water becomes clear. Drain the water from the rice. This provides nearly 4 portions of rice (1150ml) so measure out a 300ml mug of rice to use now and save the rest in the fridge for later use. This rinsing doesn’t just remove the starch to prevent the rice clumping but also reduces the amount of arsenic to a very low level.
- Drain water from the tuna flakes and add to the rice.
- Add the can of mushy peas.
- Add a teaspoon of Hot Curry Powder or whatever you fancy tasting & smelling tonight (eg Garam Masala (Hot Chilli, Chilli Con Carne, Ginger, Jerk Seasoning, Piri Piri seasoning) and add salt & Cayenne Pepper to taste.
- Mix well with a plastic spoon to avoid scratching the plastic container and microwave at 800W for 6 minutes.
- Add some potato powder if the mixture is not solid enough and mix well as solid food is more satisfying. If you drained the tuna flakes well this should not be necessary. The easy way drain the tuna flakes well is to use a can opener which cuts downwards into the top of the can and simply press the top to squeeze out the water. You have to be careful not to bend the top and cause a mini explosion of tuna all over the kitchen! The easy way to do that is to use another top from another can.
Serve on a large plate in the form of several fishcakes or just one big pancake if you prefer as I do! Also can be served with the ingredients laid out separately and use a sauce to add the flavour instead of mixing the herbs in. This is an enormous meal – just right for me – but it’s probably enough for two ladies!
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Q: Why use mushy peas?
A: Because you get twice as many peas for half the price!
Q: Why rinse the rice?
A: It stops the rice becoming lumpy and also it reduces the amount of arsenic in the rice to a very low level – see below.
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ARSENIC IN RICE
I’ve always rinsed rice thoroughly after cooking to remove the starch to prevent clumping and turn it into a fluffy masterpiece. However, it turns out there is an even better reason why you should do this and that is to remove most of the arsenic which can make you ill over time as it builds up in your system! See food.gov.uk for more information.
(Originally published as a facebook note on 22 April 2016 – transferred here on 1 July 2020.)