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RECIPE: Beef Biryani

 

Beef and Chickpea Biryani:

Works very well with lamb as well

(Feeds 4-6)


This really isn’t a ‘Back Pocket’ recipe, it’s quite involved, but it’s one of my favourite dishes, and It also is a great way to use up leftover mixed grill Turkish/Lebanese Kebab meat.

(chicken & lamb shishes, or donner/Kofti - dice them up into small chunks and fry them in a little oil before adding them back in place of the cooked beef.)



Ingredients: 

2x 500g packs of diced beef braising steak (or shoulder)

2x large onions

6x gloves of garlic or 3 tbls of garlic puree

150ml non-dairy (unsweetened) milk, or full fat cow’s kind

1 heaped tsp of tumeric (or safron if you’re feeling very posh)

2 tsp cumin (or seeds)

1 tsp coriander or (seeds)

½ tsp cinnamon (or about the same size stick)

12 cardamom pods worth of seeds (take them out the pods!)

2tsp of salt (adjust to taste)

2/4  nutmeg (it’s going to be ground, so chop it down)

140ml sunflower oil (not olive this time)

200ml dairy free unsweetened yoghurt (or the same Greek Natural)

25g ginger paste

3 bay leaves

3 green chillies - leave the seeds in unless you don’t like it spicy

1x 400g can of chickpeas - drained

355g basmati rice

Fist full of diced coriander leaves

50g butter in small spoon fulls

2 tsp brown caster sugar

2 handfuls of cooking sultanas 

4 tbls crispy onions (you can buy them in the World Food section)
 or stir fry finely sliced onion in a little onion over a high heat. Keep them moving, taking care not to burn them


Equipment:


  • 1 large Dutch Oven/Crock Pot

  • 1x large measuring jug, or mixing bowl

  • 1x Rubber Spatula

  • Large Chef's Knife

  • Ninja Electric Food Chopper (no, not a sponsor, but these things are blummin’ genius)

  • Electric spice grinder (pestle and mortar if you’re doing it old-school)

  • Large saucepan (and just enough water to cover the rice later)

  • Small glass or mixing jug


Method:



  • Pour the milk into a small glass, add the turmeric, and stir very well until it’s a smooth yellow liquid. (if using saffron, steep the strands over night)

  • Heat two tablespoons of oil in the bottom of the dutch oven. Salt and pepper the beef, then brown on a medium-high heat (7/10).

  • Transfer to a bowl for later (throw out the scummy water that comes out of the beef)If you’re using up leftover grilled kebab, dice it up and fry it lightly in the dutch oven, dry, until it releases any extra oils. Put all of this aside.



  • Chop two of the onions into 8ths and put in the ninja with the garlic, ginger and chillies. Add 50 ml water and blend to as smooth a paste as you can manage.

  • Put the coriander, cumin, cloves, cinnamon, 2 teaspoons salt, seeds from the cardamom pods (not the whole pod!) and the pieces of nutmeg into a spice grinder. Grind until a fine powder.

  • Add the powder to the onion paste with plenty of black pepper and bung it all into the dutch oven.

  • Add some more oil and fry the onion and spice paste over a medium heat (7/10) for around 10 minutes until it starts to brown browned.

  • Add the beef (or mixed meat) back to the pot. Stir in the yoghurt, plus 450ml of water and then add the bay.

  • Mix up and bring to a gentle simmer. Pop the lid on and simmer gently for an hour and a half till the meat is tender and breaks up.

  • Stir in the sugar and the chickpeas. Bring the heat up to 6/10 and simmer till the sauce is reduced and thick. Season again to taste.

  • Preheat the oven to 180C

  • Fill a large pan with water till it will just cover the rice (probably about half the pot), add salt and bring to the boil.

  • Rince the rice in a sieve under lots of running water. Add to the boiling water. Simmer on high for just five minutes then drain the rice completely, you’ll be cooking it fully later.

  • Stir the chopped coriander into the rice.

  • Transfer half the meat and sauce into a large dish. Put that to one side.

  • Spoon over half of the par-boiled rice, smooth out, and drizzle about half the yellow turmeric-milk. Sprinkle over some dried fried onions and half the sultanas.

  • Add the rest of the meat and sauce, then once again top with the rice/milk/onion/sultanas layer again

  • Add spoonfuls of the butter to the top, cover the whole pot with plenty of foil so it seals when the lid goes back on (and steams!)

  • Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.

  • Once baked. Fluff the rice and combine so the meat/sauce/rice become one big old dish. Serve in bowls sprinkled with some of the leftover chopped coriander leaves.

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Location: London, UK

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