Roast Veg Biryani

I’ve been a poorly panda lately, which has meant a lot of lazily put together meals – invariably pasta.

Good, but not worth posting about.

This is also pretty easily assembled, but there is something very special about it. Despite the majority of ingredients being fairly humble, the addition of saffron and Madras curry paste lift it to another level, and it is one of my favourite things to eat.

The original recipe was one I found in a BBC Good Food magazine (as are many meals that peak my interest – honestly they should sponsor me!), but due to a series of rubbish shops where I somehow forget a third of the ingredients I need for whatever I want to make, this turned out to be a new version! I love it, perhaps even a little bit more 🙂 I use the same method as they suggest however, because it is faultless. The best way to cook rice.

Serves 2

• 200-250g cauliflower (about 1/2 small cauliflower, trimmed and broken into florets)
• 1/2 butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and cubed
• 1 small onion, sliced
• 500ml hot vegetable stock
• 1-2 tbsp Madras curry paste
• pinch of dried chilli flakes
• pinch of saffron strands
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 130g uncooked basmati rice
• handful of cherry tomatoes
• handful of frozen peas
• 1 lemon, juiced
• handful of cashew nuts (salted if you like!) and raita, to serve

1. Preheat the oven to 220°c. Pour some vegetable or sunflower oil into a roasting tin and put in the oven to heat up. Add all of the vegetables except the peas and tomatoes (yes I know tomatoes are a fruit, grr), and stir to coat with the oil. Season and put back in the oven for 15 minutes, or until starting to brown.
2. Meanwhile, mix the stock with the curry paste, chilli flakes, saffron and mustard seeds.
3. Remove the tin from the oven and lower the temperature to 190°c. Add the rice, peas and tomatoes to the tin, then pour over the stock mixture. Cover with foil, then bake for 30 minutes until the rice is cooked and all of the liquid has been absorbed.
4. Stir in the lemon juice, check the seasoning and scatter over the cashew nuts. You may also want to add some chopped coriander. Serve with raita 🙂

Raita and cashews not pictured here as the ones I took with them in were rubbish!