Buckwheat Instead Of Barley

Our answer

Nigella's Chicken Barley (from AT MY TABLE) is a comforting cross between a soup and a stew and includes pearl barley, which is slow cooked with chicken and vegetables. Pearl barley holds up well to longer cooking, becoming soft and starchy but not mushy.

Buckwheat is not, as the name suggests, a traditional cereal. It is gluten-free and part of the rhubarb family. The seeds are often eaten as a cereal/starch alternative and it does usually stand up well to longer cooking. So we suspect it could be used as an alternative. Buckwheat is usually sold coarsely ground as kasha/groats and may be toasted first. We would suggest using the same quantity as the barley and just keeping an eye on the liquid in the pot, in case it looks a little dry. For the parsnips, celeriac would be a possible alternative. We would however mention that we have not tried the Chicken Barley with these ingredients, so are unable to guarantee the results.