Rick Stein’s Aubergine Biryani
In this show-stopping recipe, Rick Stein adapts a fan favourite from his book Rick Stein’s India to create a crowd-pleasing vegetarian version with aubergine-studded buttery rice.
From the book
Introduction
This is based on a recipe I wrote for my book Rick Stein’s India, but I’ve adapted it to make it vegetarian. After some experimentation, I came to the conclusion that aubergine was far and away the best vegetable to use here. I know I’m saying this, but it is really good.
Ingredients
| 750g | aubergines, cut into 3–4cm dice |
| 10 | whole cloves |
| 6cm stick | cinnamon |
| 5 pods | green cardamom, bruised with a rolling pin |
| 2 medium | tomatoes, chopped |
| 200g | baby spinach leaves, washed |
| 600g | basmati rice |
| salt | |
| For the marinade: | |
|---|---|
| 250ml | natural yoghurt |
| 6 | garlic cloves, finely crushed |
| 30g | root ginger, finely grated |
| 3 | green chillies, finely chopped, with seeds |
| 1 tsp | Kashmiri chilli powder |
| 1 tsp | ground coriander |
| ½ tsp | ground turmeric |
| For the fried onions: | |
| 150ml | vegetable oil |
| 3 | medium onions, thinly sliced |
| 1 tsp | garam masala |
| 1 tsp | cumin seeds |
| To assemble: | |
| 100g | ghee |
| Pinch of | saffron soaked in 4 tbsp warm milk for 15 minutes |
| 2 tsp | rose water (optional) |
| 20g each | cashew nuts and pistachios, dry-roasted in a hot pan until golden |
| To serve: | |
| cucumber and mint raita |
Method
Combine the marinade ingredients in a bowl, add the diced aubergines and toss to coat. Set aside to marinate for 30 minutes.
For the onions, heat the oil in a sturdy pan over a medium heat until hot but not smoking. Add the onions and fry for 10–15 minutes or until deep golden-brown, then add the garam masala and cumin seeds. Remove the onions with a slotted spoon, drain on kitchen paper, then set aside. Pour off all but about 3 tablespoons of the oil from the pan into a jug to use another time.
Add the cloves, cinnamon and cardamom to the pan and fry for 1 minute. Add the aubergine and marinade, then bring to a simmer and stir in the tomatoes and a teaspoon of salt. Simmer over a medium heat for 15 minutes until the aubergine is tender and the sauce is clinging to it. Stir in the spinach – add a splash of water to the pan if the spinach catches on the bottom – and cook for a few more minutes until wilted. The sauce should be almost dry and just coating the aubergine. Keep it warm over a low heat while you cook the rice.
Bring a large pan of water to the boil and add salt – 1 teaspoon per litre of water. Add the rice and cook for 5–7 minutes until just tender but still firm, then drain well.
Assemble the biryani straight away. Pour about 3 tablespoons of water and half the ghee into a deep, heavy-based pan. Spoon in a third of the rice, then a third of the onions and half the aubergine. Sprinkle in some saffron milk, a little rose water, if using, and a few cashew nuts and pistachios. Then spoon in another third of rice, more onions, the rest of the aubergine, more saffron milk and rose water and a few more nuts. Finally, add the rest of the rice, saffron milk and rose water and most of the remaining onions.
Drizzle the remaining ghee around the edges of the rice so it drips down the inside of the pan. Cover with a well-fitting lid and place over a high heat to get the ghee hot and some steam going – lift up the lid to check. As soon as you see steam rising, turn the heat down very low and cook for 30 minutes. Spoon out on to a large serving platter and scatter with the rest of the fried onions and toasted cashews and pistachios. Serve with raita.
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