Aromatic vegetable biryani

For those who have never tasted this south Asian dish, please, please have an attempt at cooking it. It is such an explosion of flavours in one bite, you would have to force yourself to stop eating it.

This dish is mainly a curry and fluffy rice and can be prepared with vegetables, fish, chicken, beef or goat. It tends to have yoghurt and fried onions in every variety but then differs with the types of spices used or dried fruits. The variations, as mentioned before, are endless throughout India 's subcontinent to Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. Using a good quality basmati rice is vital as it naturally has a fantastic delicate, yet aromatic flavour.

To me, I love playing with spices, and each time I make biryani, the flavour is different, which is normal when I change quantities and types of spices.

This recipe may seem long and complicated but trust me, it is so easy, and the more you cook it, the more instinctive it becomes to you.

One last piece of advice. Make more than what you usually cook as the flavour is even more divine the next day. I love eating this accompanied by raita,chapatti and my spicy Omani salsa.

Servings: 8

Preparation Time for veg: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Baking time: 20 minutes

Total time: about 1 hour

Ingredients:

100 grams cauliflower

1 large carrot

200 grams okra

3 medium potatoes

1 tomato

1/2 cup peas

3 cm piece ginger

1 medium onion

6 cloves garlic

1 tablespoon salt, for the curry

1/2 tablespoon salt, for the rice

3 green chilli peppers

7 tablespoons butter

3 cups basmati rice

1/2 cup chopped coriander

1/2 cup chopped mint

Saffron threads

2 large fried sliced onions (see notes)

3/4 cup yoghurt

The spices:

1-star anise

6 bay leaf

20 cloves

10 cardamom

1 cinnamon stick

1 1/2 teaspoons cumin seed

2 teaspoons turmeric

1 teaspoon cumin powder

1 teaspoon coriander, powder

2 teaspoons garam masala

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 1/2 teaspoons chilli powder

Method:

· Peel the ginger, onion and garlic, place in a processor and puree.

· Prepare the vegetables as follow: Cut the cauliflower into small florets, peel the carrots and slice, peel and cube the potatoes, remove the stem from the okra and cut, peel and finely chop the tomato. Set all on the side.

· Add 3 tablespoons of hot water to the saffron strands.

· Prepare the fried onions (seen notes) and chop the mint and coriander.

· Prepare the spice plate as seen in the video. Trust me as it makes the cooking easier.

· Place 3 tablespoon of lurpak soft in the pan on medium heat and add the whole spices (clove, cardamom, cinnamon and cumin seeds) saute just until the aroma is released and add the ginger onion paste.

· Saute for 2 minutes continually stirring then add the chopped tomato, yoghurt and the remainder of the spices.

· Add the carrots, cauliflower, okra, peas, potatoes and chilli and stir. Season with Himalayan salt and add just enough water to cover the vegetables.

· Cook on medium heat uncovered until vegetables are cooked( about 20 minutes or so). You may need to add a little water if required. Don't forget to adjust the salt at the end to your liking. The final consistency should be a thick sauce.

· While the vegetables are cooking, prepare the basmati rice by following the manufacturer's instructions. Make sure you add 1 tablespoon of lurpak soft to the water and season before adding the rice. You must half cook the rice as it will be placed in the oven at the end to finish cooking.

· Now it is time to assemble the biryani. Butter a terracotta or earthware pot with lurpak soft. Place a layer of rice then top with a layer of the vegetable sauce then a handful of chopped herbs and a few spoonfuls on the fried onion. Repeat the same again rice, vegetable sauce, herbs and fried onion and finish the assembly with a final layer of rice.

· Finish with 3 tablespoons of lurpak soft and drizzle the saffron water.

· Cover with foil and place in a 180 C preheated oven for about 20 to 25minutes.

· Serve topped with more fried onions and herbs.

· Eat with my Omani style salsa, chapatti and Indian yoghurt Raita.

Notes:

· For the fried sliced onions, simply cook in any oil on medium heat until light brown or follow This method in my kushari video. In both ways, drain on paper towel.

· The vegetable curry sauce can be prepared a day ahead and heated when making the layers of biryani.

· Make sure the rice is half cooked, or the biryani will be mushy.

· The vegetable curry sauce can be frozen.

· The leftover biryani can be frozen up t 3 months, simply thaw and heat in the microwave.

· For a vegan Biryani substitute the yoghurt with any nut base cream.

· You may want to try making my one pot chicken biryani.

Per Serving: 497 Calories; 17g Fat (28.7% calories from fat); 12g Protein; 82g Carbohydrate; 13g Dietary Fiber; 30mg Cholesterol; 1422mg Sodium.