Karma Soupra

Serves: 2 Lovers

Ingredients

100g Banana shallots, sliced
Garlic, chopped – 2 Cloves
30g, Butter, unsalted
½ Chilli, Red chilli, thin sliced
Celery, thin sliced – 1 Stick
Thyme, tied together with string – Few Branches
White wine – a glass
Brown basmati rice 40 G
Saffron Few Threads
Mussels, de-bearded 350 g
Flat Leaf Parsley, rough chopped 1 heaped tbsp
Salt & Pepper To taste

Method

• First soak the rice in cold water, just to get it swelling.
• Gently heat the butter until it starts to fizzle, then toss in the shallot, garlic, chilli, celery and thyme branches.
• Put a lid on and sweat for about 10 mins stirring occasionally – no browning please.
• Drain the rice and tip it in, making sure it gets a good coating, then add a glass of white wine and the saffron and reduce until all the liquid has gone
• Now pour on a litre of hot water/fish stock and bring up to quite an aggressive simmer with the lid off so it is reducing as the rice is cooking .
• Once the grains are done, tip in the mussels, put the lid on and holding onto the pan and the lid give everybody a firm but gentle swirl around.
• Don’t peak for about 3 minutes, by which time the mussels should have opened up to reveal their pleasure inside.
• Season well, and finish with a scattering of fresh herbage and a squeeze of lemon for final zing; serve it shallow bowls to show off the most of this fruit de mer .