Low Fuss Biriyani

Biriyani -- One of India's gifts to the world and one that has so many forms, flavours and features (all of them delicious). I ate chicken biriyani growing up and I must digress there has only been seldom times when I've had a biriyani I really enjoyed in my youth. Non-Muslim households in Sri Lanka makes a rice that's almost fried in biriyani spices and uses food colouring to add colour in place of saffron. Whilst it tastes okay I have always been a bit skeptical about this. The two times I managed to have a great biriyani, they were leagues apart from what I had had before. Both instances were at Muslim events and it was then that I began to understand that for me, the truest expression of biriyani is the Hyderbadi style layered "dum" biriyani. However, this is not the easiest thing to do at home, and requires a fair but of work. This recipe was born out of my love for a good, flavoursome biriyani and the seafood of choice I loved eating in Sri Lanka --- prawns. This is easily achievable and requires no special equipment and tedious hours of cooking. Here are a few notes I have decided to add in based on feedback for the recipe.

The protein: I have opted to use prawns for this recipe as they cook easily and saves you time. However this recipe lends itself very well to chicken. If you are using chicken, ensure that you marinade the chicken first. You can do this with some biriyani masala powder or tandoori chicken curry paste + yoghurt or marinade the chicken in salt, pepper, turmeric, chili and lime juice. It is also really important when you're cooking the chicken to make sure not too much water evaporates. If you choose to use other proteins such as goat, lamb or beef, I definitely recommend marinating the meat & pressure cooking the meat until tender (typically 2-3 whistles) before cooking the biriyani base.

Vegan/vegetarian options: You can follow the same recipe, but instead of animal based proteins, you can make this completely vegan or vegetarian friendly. Substituent the yoghurt with coconut cream. Instead of prawns or chicken, you can use boiled eggs, a mixed of potato and peas, soya meat chunks or seitan.

Biriyani Masala: Most Indian shops will contain biriyani powder packets, along with tandoori bases. I highly recommend using these to save yourself on time and to get the best possible taste outcome. You can also use a jarred biriyani paste.

With that in mind, let's go!

Ingredients

Serves 2-4

For the rice

• 2 cups of good quality basmati rice

• 2 bay leaves

• 3 cardamon pods

• 1 small piece of cinnamon

• 4 cloves

For the prawns

• 300g of prawns (I used frozen raw prawns, tail off). This is per your preference

• 1 tbs crushed ginger

• 1 tbs crushed garlic

• 1 medium onion finely chopped

• 1 red chilie finely chopped

• 1 tbs chopped coriander

• 1 tbs chopped mint

• 2-3 cardamom pods

• 3-4 cloves

• 1 medium tomato diced

• 3 tsp of turmeric

• 1 tsp of chili powder

• 3 tsp cumin powder

• 2 tbs tandoori spice powder or biriyani masala powder

• 1/2 cup of greek yoghurt or curd

• Salt and pepper to taste

• 1 tbs ghee or butter

• 1 tbs oil

For the fried mix to layer into the biriyani

• 60g of cashews or almonds

• 40g sultanas

• 1 sprig curry leaves

• Half an onion sliced (optional)

• Boiled eggs (optional)

• 1 cup cup of mint, chopped

• 1 cup of coriander, chopped

• 4 tbs oil

Method

Bring a pot of water to the boil and add in all the ingredients list for the rice. Add in the rice and cook for 5 minutes or so or until the rice is 3/4 cooked through. Leave this aside to cool.

In a frying pan, heat up the oil. When the oil is hot, add in the onion first (if using). Drain on a paper towel and fry the cashews, followed by the sultanas/raisins and finally the curry leaves. Drain these on paper towel and leave aside.

Next, prep the ingredients for the prawn curry base. Heat up a sauce pan and add in butter and oil. To this, add all of the chopped ingredients except for the tomato, coriander and mint. Fry until fragrant. Next add in the spices, salt and pepper and fry off the spices very well.

Once the spices have taken on a deep, rich colour, add in the prawns and cook for about 1 minute, until the prawn is well coated, and then add in the tomato, coriander and mint. Once that this well incorporated, add the yoghurt and stir to form a thick, rich sauce. Turn the heat off once the sauce starts to bubble

Then start the layers:

Place half the rice directly on top of the prawn, followed by half of the chopped coriander and mint, cashews, sultanas, curry leaves, Repeat this process to form another layer, and turn the heat back on medium-low. Place the eggs (if using) on top, and sprinkle with some rosewater for some extra panache. Clamp on a lid and cook for about 10 minutes until the rice is warm and steaming.

Et voilà! It is done. This is perfectly delicious on it's own, but I always like to serve a side. I served mine with a shishito pepper and tomato raita. This is a very quick and easy recipe by biriyani standards, and so many people have already attempted this and tagged me on Instagram. Please give me a shout if you do, I love seeing the creations of others. As always, thank you for tuning in, and I look forward to sharing more deliciousness with you! The video for this recipe is on my Instagram, and can be found here.

You can choose to mix the biriyani through or serve with the layers in tact, but it's up to you!

Sav xx