1 hr (PREP 30 minutes | COOK 25 minutes)
Not Too Tricky
serves 6
About the recipe
My healthier spin on this classic Indian rice dish will be a massive hit with all the family. I’ve layered up basmati with paneer, veg and spice to flavour every grain, and baked it in the oven for a gorgeous crispy top worth fighting over. It smells incredible too!
Ingredients
450g basmati rice
3 onions
6 cloves of garlic
5cm piece of ginger
olive oil
1 tablespoon curry powder
600g ripe tomatoes, on the vine
1 fresh green chilli
1 tablespoon tomato purée
1 large head of cauliflower (about 1kg)
200g paneer cheese
250g frozen spinach
1 bunch of fresh coriander (30g)
100g Greek yoghurt
ground turmeric, for dusting
Top Tip
Biryani is a great dish for using up leftover meat and veg, whether it’s the lamb or chicken from a roast, to that ignored half a head of broccoli. True convenience food!
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6.
- Cook the rice in a large pan of boiling salted water according to the packet instructions, then drain and leave to cool.
- Peel and finely slice the onions, garlic and ginger. Place a large shallow ovenproof pan over a medium heat with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, add the sliced ingredients and curry powder, then cook for 15 minutes, or until golden, stirring regularly.
- Roughly chop the tomatoes and chilli (deseed if you like), then add to the pan. Stir in the tomato purée and cook for 5 minutes, or until softened, breaking up the tomatoes as you go.
- Break the cauliflower into bite-size florets, then trim and finely chop the stalk, and roughly chop any nice leaves. Dice the paneer and add to the pan, along with the cauliflower and leaves, the spinach and 100ml of water. Give everything a good stir, bring to the boil, then cover and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Meanwhile, finely chop your coriander (stalks and all).
- Remove the pan from the heat, stir through the yoghurt and season to perfection. Scoop out half the curry from the pan and set aside. Sprinkle over half the coriander, then spoon over half the cooled rice, followed by a dusting of turmeric. Return the removed curry to the pan and repeat the layers – coriander, rice and turmeric.
- Drizzle with a little oil and bake at the bottom of the oven for 25 minutes, or until golden and crisp. Bring to the table and dive in. Delicious served with crunchy poppadoms and mango chutney.
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