Chicken, corn and pearl barley kind-of-curry

I can't quite remember how, but I got it in my head that I had to try cooking with pearl barley. So I looked at a few recipes, and came up with my own combo to try out.

Here's what went into the slow cooker:

5 chicken thigh fillets, diced
1 green capsicum
1 seeded and sliced red chilli
Grated fresh ginger
3 crushed garlic cloves
1 red onion
A dash of ground cumin
A few shakes of garam masala
Another dash of turmeric
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 cups of chicken stock
A little less than a cup of pearly barley
Cooked corn sliced off the cob (you could of course use frozen or tinned corn, but I just happened to have fresh corn in the fridge)
Preserved lemon (or some grated lemon zest if you have a fresh lemon on hand instead)

I put the slow cooker on low for just over 6 hours while I was out and about, and I was pleasantly surprised by the fragrant results when I came home.

I made a quick corn, tomato and coriander salsa to serve on the side and topped the dish with a dollop of the hummus I'd picked up from my Turkish friend at the markets in the morning.

The spices and texture of the corn and barley were really nice, and the salsa also brightened up the dish. And I finally got to give pearl barley a whirl!